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CHICAGO'S DREAM OF THE FAIR. 



. . THE . . 

WORLD'S FAIR 



ITS MEANING AND SCOPE 

Its Old-World Friends, Their Countries, Customs and Religions 

14^H^7 THEY IVILL EXHJ'BIT. 

^e gnited gtate§ at tl]e FaiF. 

THE CITY AND THE SITE 
THEi COLOSSAL STRUGTUREiS. 

I/- . ^ 

X » ... '■ ." ' 

y , ' '■; ■ 

H. a. CUTLER, 

AUTHOR OK RAND, MOTAI.I.Y & CO.'S NBW ATLAS OF THE WORLD [IN PRRSS], PANORAMA OF NATIONS 
CONTRIBUTOR TO MAOAZINE, OF AMERICAN HISTORY, Etc., Etc. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



CHICAGO. 

STAR PUBIvISHING COMPANY. 



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COPYRIGHT iSgi 

BY 

STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



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CONTENTS. 



LET US WARM THE WORLD. 
The Fair's Aim and Resolve— European Visitors— What of our Northmen— Ancient American Fathers 
—Enter the Americas— The Chance of Four Centuries Pages i»— 18 

THE SPANIARDS. 

The Basques— Ignatius Loyola — Spanish Gypsies — Cadiz — Carthage in Spain— Spanish Morocco — 
Seville — Cordova — The G-ardens of Spain — The Gothic— Roman Princes— Toledo — Granada and 
the Alhambra — Southern and Eastern Coasts— The Cid — Barcelona — The Romans and the Celts 
— The Mecca of Spain — Valladolid — Salamanca — The Escurial— Madrid — Amusements of the 
Native— Cuba and Columbus' Tomb— Portuguese and Prince Henry Pages 19—52 

THE ITALIANS. 

Modern Rome— Capitohne Hill— The Pantheon— The Vatican and St. Peter's— Peter's Prison— The 
Life of To-Day— The Catacombs- The Colosseum and the Forum— The Italian Peasant— 
Vespueius City— Politics and Religion— Palaces and Gardens— Historic Bridges— The Home 
of Columbus— Naples— ThR Buried Cities— The Dead and the Living— Venice rising from the 
Sea— The Church of St. Unvk - Pages 53-74 

THE FRENCH. 

French Marriages— The Bretons of France— Out into the Fighting— The People of the Pyrenees- 
Royalty and Religion— A Wonderful Fortified City— The Vineyard of the Earth— From Nice to 
Calais— Marseilles-Deserts and Ruins — Lyonsandher Weavers— Gleams from Eastern France — 
Cheery Normandy— The Conqueror's Home— Norman Girls — The Approach to Paris — A Bird's- 
Eye View— Old Paris— XorLh of the Seine— South of the Seine— St. Vincent de Paul— Victor 
H'lgo —The Military Quarter— Boulevards and Parlis— Theatres and Delicate Economy— Supple 
and Muscular People ...Pages 75—110 

THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 

Basis of the Englishman — The Less Ruling the Greater — Exploring tlie Thames -Oxford— From 
Oxford to Windsor — From Windsor to London -London and London City— The Fashionable 
West End— The City— London Tower and the Docks— Where Peter Worlied— Woolwich and 
Greenwich— Canterbury and Thomas a Beck^t- Dover and Hastings— The (halky Cliffs and 
Old Forests -Epsom Salts and Races— The Forest of Death— The Isle of Wight -To Eddy stone 
Lighthouse— From the New Forest, Inland — Along Bristol Channel — King Arthur'? Lanu— A 
Literary Land — Dreary Dartmoor— Rocks and Flowers — Houses and Mines— Among Miners and 
Fishermen— A Dead Language— Bristol and Bath — Shakespeare's Avon— A Second Holland- 
Cathedral Cities — Cambridge — Bunyan, Cowper and Verulam — Yarmouth Flats — A Famous 
Battle-Field — Back to Nottingham— Byron and Rpbin Hood,— A Castle and Country Inns— 
A;2erica in England— The English York — Manchester — Liverpool — Gladstone and his Estate-- 
Manufacturing and Mechanical Engrland— Peveril of the Peak— The Pottery Shire— The Border 
Land— The Scotch— Edinburgh — Melrose and Abbottsford — Burns and the Ayr— The Clyde 
and Glasgow — Glasgow— The Scottish Highlands — The Actual Highlands — The Welsh and 
Snowdon — The Irish — Irish Cities and Scenery Pages 111—174 

THE GERMANS. 

The Government and the Army — Educational Drill — Students' Nicknames -Duels— Great University 
Lights — Heidelberg— Leipzig — Agriculturists— The Forests of Germanv— 1 he High and Low 
Germans— The German and the Rhine — Folk Lore — The Hartz Mountains— The Broeken and 
Goethe — The Hartz Towns — Manufacture and German Beer — Bavaria and Wiirtemberg — 
Cologne — Family Life — Berlin — Som^j Famous German Cities — Austiia's World's Fair City 
Pa^esl75— 212 

THE DUTCH. 

Their Dikes Assaulted— The Zuyder Zee Country— Further Ravages of the Sea— The Dikes, and 
how they Look— The Canals— Drawing off the Seas— The Seas as an Ally — Scenes on the Can- 
als — Everyone Sedate and Clean— The Kermis and Homf — Peat Beds, High and Low— The 
Herring Fisheries Pages 213—230 



IV CONTENTS. 

THE SCANDINAVIANS. 
The Danish Peasants — The Danish Seamen — Copenhagen— Natural and Artificial Boundary — Rava- 
ges of the Lemmings— Peasant and Cottas;es— The Swedes — Stockholm — The Norwegians — 
Wild Life on the Coasts-- A Gigantic Snow Field — Uncertainty of Crops— As Man and Citizen — 
The Icelanders ". Pag*^s 231—242 

THE RUSSIANS. 

A Gigantic Land— The Circassians— Government and Army Life— The Sword and the Cross— Typi- 

' cal Ceremonials— Nobility and Peasantry— St. Petersburg— The Winter Palace— Peter's Statue 

— Winter Sports and Scenes Pages 243—262 

A SIBERIAN FATHERLAND. 
Each Man his own Master. Pages 263— 26& 

OUR FAR EAST COUSINS. 

Perhaps our Fore-Fathers, too— Egypt— The Nile and Egypt— The Fellaheen- Their Wives— Egyp- 
tian Schools— Gliding up the Nile Pages 267—288 

THE SYRIANS. 

The Druses— The Maronites— Smyrna— The Hebrews and Jerusalem— The Road to Jericho— 
Bethlehemites— Nazareth Pages 289— 300 

THE HINDOO. 

The System of Caste— A Brahman— Castes and Tribes— A Native Hunt— The Tamuls— The Raj- 
poots—The Gypsies' Land— Other Great Tribes— The Ceylonese— Religions of India— Influence 
of Buddhism — .A Mohammedan — The Faljir— A Parsee— A Sikh— The Hindu Family— A Son's 
Birth —He goes to School — A Girl's Education — Marriage Ceremonies — Female Education — 
"Tae Order of Merit"— A Patriarch's Death— The Sacred City Pages 301— 334 

THE CHINESE. 

A Bewildering Antiquity— Neglect of Natural Advantages— Basis of the State -Religious Tolerance 
— Chinese Doctrines — Chinese Gods— Domestic and Social Lite — The Loyal Dress — They Refuse 
to Shave the Head— Chinese Houses— Chinese Marriages — FiUal Obedience and Respect — 
Agriculture— Fishing Pages 335— 358 

THE JAPANESE. 
Government and Religion -The Corner- stone of Society — Marriage and Women's Duties — Dress and 
Personal Adornment— Amusem^^nts — Jugglers and Acrobats -The Nobility of Gladiators — The 
Theatre- Bathing and Sea Houses— Europi^an Habits— Unworthy of Japan — Style of Architec- 
ture— Within the House— TheLast Eesting-Place — Agriculture and Manufactures— The Japanese 
as Artists— The First, Last— The Coreans Pages 359-378 

THE AUSTRALIANS. 

Th' Great Inland Flood-Breeder — Interior Savages — Native Dances— Burial Customs — Australian 
Cow-Boys — A Dying Race— Civilized Australia Pages 379 — 396 

THE POLYNESIANS. 

The Feejee Cannibals— High-Toned Society— Cannibals and Bakalos— Society— High and Low — 
The Tongese— Royal Reforms— Home Manufactures— The Old and the New— The Samoant,— 
A Tattooed Warrior— Houses and Mats— Tihitian Idols— War Charms— The Hawaiians. 
Pages 397—414 

THREE CENTURIES OF DISCOVERY. 

Columbus and his Followers — Vespucius — Ponce De Leon — Balboa — Cortes — Magellan- Entry of 
France— The Awakening of England : Pages 415—432 

SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

The Brazilian Indians— Phoenicians of the Amazon— Tho Amazons— The Brazilians— The Caribs 
and Arawaks — The Mozi-as — The Panama Canal— The Ecuadorians— The Anti-Peruvians— 
Traces of the Empire— Some Inca Tribes— The Araucaniuns— Tlie Chilians— The Centaurs of 
South America— The Gauchos Pages 433—450 



CONTENTS. V 

THE MEXICANS. 

Mythology of Mexico— Its Primitive Pei>r)le— The Holv Cross and Virgin— An Aboriginal Tribe— 
The Mexican as he is — Miners and Muleteers— A Mexican Bonanza— Mexican Sports— The City 
of Mexico— Holy Week— Female Beauty— In the Suburbs Pages 451—462 

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

Alaska — Remnants of the Great Tribes— Present Ways of Living — The Indian's "Totem"— The 
Flatheads— The Apaches— The Dakotas— The Sioux— Indian Religion and Medicine— The Medi- 
cine Dance— Burial Places— Civilized and Semi- OiviUzed— The Cherokees— Creeks— Seminoles 
--Choctawsand Chickasaws Pages 463—482 

THE WORLD'S FAIR. 
Figurative and Real Pages 483—486 

FATHERS OF OUR WORLD'S FAIR. 

The Very Oldest— The First Real World's Fair— World's Fair, New York, 1853— World's Fair, Paris, 
1855— London Fair of 1862— Paris, 1867— The Vienna World's Fair, 1873— Philadelphia Centen- 
nial Exhibition, 1876 -Paris, 1878— Pai-is, 1889 ..Pages 487—510 

HISTORY OF OUR WORLD'S FAIR. 

Germs and Young Shoots— Organization of the Forces — Pillars of the Exposition —Board of Lady 
Managers— Exhibits, Site, Presidential Proclamation, etc— The Site Pages 511—522 

MOSTLY IN THE AIR. 

World's Fair Mammoths — Towering on Paper — No Luck In this Shoe — The Universe Taken In — 
Modest Ones — Dropping a Thousand Feet into Water— A Look Underground— Some Domes of 
Thought— Under One Roof— Great Heavens!— What Lazy People Missed— Transit for the 
Rushers Pages 523—538 

OUR WORLD'S FAIR CITY. 

A Grand Lake Frontage — Chicago's Historic Ground — Why Wolf Point was not our Center — Wabash 
Avenue — State street and the Masonic Temple — Real Estate and Politics - A Woman's Temple — 
The Rookery and Hall of Babel — Limits of the Great Fire— The Parks and Boulevards. 
Pages 539— 566 

PEN PICTURES OF THE FAIR. 

The City in its Best Clothes — The approach to the Fair— The outskirts of the Fair— The Fair's 
Grand Avenue — A Bit of Nature — Southern End of the Site— Going North — The Woman's 
Palace— Water Palaces and Palatial Aquaria— Venice Outdone— The Columbian Tower— The 
Driving Park— The care of Life and Property— Water and Light— Means of Transportation— 
The Return Trip , Pages 567-590 

UNCLE SAM'S EXHIBIT. 

A short Preliminary — The Agricultural Exhibit — The Interior Department — The Naval and War 
Exhibits— The Smithsonian Institution— Other Department Exhibits .Pages 591—600 

CLASSIFIED AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS. 

Plan of Operations — Manufactures and Liberal Arts— Fine Arts- -Archaeology and Ethnology— Agri- 
cultural Exhibits— The Live Stock Exhibits— Machinery Hall— The Electrical Display— Mining 
Exhibits— The Horticultural Exhibit— Woman's Handiwork and Headwork— The Water Palace 
—The Columbian Tower Pages 601—620 

AMONG THE STATES. 

Illinois and her Neighbors— California and the Coast — New England and The Middle States— The 
South Pages 621—626 

SOME FOREIGN EXHIBITS. 

In General— Great Britain and Ireland— England's Household— India — Coffee with the Turks— The 
'^zar's Dominions— The Fatherland— Italy— La Belle France— China and Japan.. Pages 627—640 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FULL PAGE LITHOGRAPHS IN TEN COLORS. 



Products of Hindu Skill 301 

Melanesian and Micronesian Weapons and Irapl.minits 397 

Sioux War Dance 475 

Ancient American Earthenware 60tt 



FULL PAGE ENGRAVINGS. 

Chicago's Dream of the Fair Frontispiece. 

Spanish Harmony 36 

In the Fields of France 85 

French Villagers 92 

St. Vincent de Paul 104 

An Old University Town 184 

A German Fraulein 204 

Cologne Cathedral. 209 

A Dutch Romance 222 

Eeading a Condemned Bouk 225 

An Egyptian Temple 269 

A Bedouin Chief. 276 

Ruins on the Nile 280 

Reading from the Koran 282 

A Youth of Upper Egypt 286 

A Woman of Syria 297 

In the Harem 299 

Within an Indian Temple 314 

The Blessing of Buddha 318 

Temple Garden in Tokio .. 370 

Traveling Women , 385 

Samoan Flower Girls 410 

Columbus Approaches San Salvador 416 

America 464 

Indian Cards, Card Case and Fish Hook 466 

Totem Poles and Indian Huts, Ft. Mangrll 470 

Indian Grave near Ft. Mangell, Alaska 473 

Voyaging on the Columbia ... 482 

The Crystal Palace, London, 1851 490 

World's Fair, Vienna, 1873 : 498 

Art Gallery, Philadelphia, 1876 500 

Main Building, Philadelphia Centennial 502 

Eiffel Tower and Bird's-Eye View, Paris, ISSO '. 506 

Grand Entrance, Paris, 18S9 508 

The Chicago Columbus Tower - 524 

The Columbian Triumphal Arch 526 

The Moving Sidewalk 536 

The Masonic Temple ■ 548 

The Temple , 553 

Board of Trade 556 



ILLUSTRATIONS. VU 

Business Section of City after the Fire 560 

Bird's-eye View Chicago and Fair Site 568 

Agricultui'al Building , 572 

Manufactures Building 576 

Machinery Hall 582 

Horticultural HaU - 589 

United States Government Building 592 

Man-of-War, Chicago 594 

Smithsonian Institution 598 

Bird's-eye View of Fair Grounds 602 

Woman's Building 616 

The Columbian Tower t)18 

The Illinois State Building 622 

A Glimpse at California's Eshibit 624 

Entrance to the Egyptian Street at the Fair 630 

Sclavic Home in Cliicago 636 

Aztec and Indian Homes at the Fair 638 



MINOR ILLUSTRATIONS. 



First Icelandic Colonists 12 

Statue of Leif Erikson, at Milwaukee 13 

Columbus 18 

AG3'psy Chief 23 

A Spanish Gill 29 

Gate of the Alhambra 33 

Peasant of Eastern Spain 35 

Scene in Salamanca 41 

Spanish Water Carrier 44 

Bull Fighters 47 

Tomb of Columbus, at Havana 49 

Street Scene in Kome 56 

The Fa tes, by Michael Angelo 63 

Design lor an Ornament 64 

Placquoby Cellini 65 

Bronze Helmet Ornament 66 

Wall Painting, Pompeii 69 

Tombs of Pompeii 70 

Garden of Pompeii 71 

Marble Table found at Pompeii 72 

A Farmer of Brittany 76 

A BL'ggar of Brittany 77 

Eonaissance Window, Kouen 94 

A Modern French Painter 102 

Bust of Victor Hugo 105 

Noted Picture of Lot's Wife 120 

Piece of Statuary 121 

Waterloo Bridge 123 

St. Andrew's Church, Holborn 124 

Fish Sale in Cornwall 138 

Old English Doorway 144 

An OldEngUsh Lady 146 

A Derbyshire Inn 149 

Old English Gateway 152 

English Pottery 156 

In the Emerald Isle 173 



Schiller 183 

A Village Group 190 

Watching the Ehine 193 

Scene on the Rhine 195 

Goethe 197 

Museum at Berlin 210 

In a Dutch Port 215 

Eembrandt Van Eyn 220 

A Neat Dutch Inn 224 

Going to Baptism 227 

Exterior of a Dutch House 228 

Frederickshavn 233 

Swedish Landscape 236 

A Cossack Family 244 

A Voter 244 

Cossack Watch Tower 245 

Eeady for Action 246 

A Circassian Girl 247 

Soldier of the Caucasus 248 

A Cossack of the Line 249 

A Eussian Village 255 

A Lady of Fashion 262 

Winter and Summer Huts 264 

Tchuktchis Children 265 

A Copt 270 

Egyptian Ornaments 272 

A Jew of Cairo 274 

Egyptian Vase 281 

An Egyptian Chair 283 

A Syrian 290 

Village of Syria 291 

A Druse Lady 292 

An Old Turk 294 

A Man of Jerusalem 294 

At Jerusalem's Wall 295 

Burghers of Ceylon 302 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Water Carrier 303 

Inilian Tree Huts : 304 

A Brahman at Prayer 306 

Chief of a Village 307 

A Tiger Hunt 308 

Women of Ceylon 309 

House in Ceylon 310 

Hindu Gypsies 312 

A Baggage Animal 313 

Baa Relief from an Indian Temple 316 

Eoyal Palace at Agra 321 

Cloth Venders 324 

Scene at Benares 332 

Elver Scene in China 336 

A Scene in China 348 

A Japanese 360 

A Noble Lady 361 

Selling Marine Animals 361 

A Japanese Girl 363 

Former Nobleman and Servant 364 

Riding in a Palanquin 367 

Interior of a Tea House 368 

A Japanese Bed -room 374 

Singers and Musicians 377 

An Australian Savage 380 

An Australian Grave 388 

A Native Victorian 393 

A Feejee Chief 398 

A Chiefs House 399 

A Feejee Cannibal 400 

Polynesian Beauties. 401 

A Feejeean Village Scene 402 

A Civilized Girl 403 

Women of Tonga 404 

Tongese Braided Work 406 

Native Fashion , 408 

A Samoan Girl 409 

Head Protector 411 

Native Idols 413 

War Amulets 414 

Sebastian Cabot 419 

House vs'here Columbus Died 421 

Balboa Takes Possession of the Pacific 424 

House where Pizarro was Assassinated 428 



Sir Francis Drake.. 429 

Capt. Cook 430 

Amazonian Indians 435 

Colossal Head Carved in Stone 441 

Peruvian Carving 443 

An Araucanian Family 445 

A Mexican 454 

A Mexican Girl ... 451 

A Sioux Warrior , 473 

Monument at Plymouth A85 

Agricultural Hall, Philadelphia, 1876 503 

Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, 1876 603 

Lyman J. Gage 512 

Hon. Thomas W. Palmer 514 

Hon. Thomas B. Bryan 516 

Col. Geo. R. Davis. 517 

Mrs. Potter Palmer 5I8 

Moses P. Handy 520 

Hon. Benjamin Butterworth 522 

View of the "Drop" 529 

Interior of the Falling Car 530 

The Columbus Dome, Exterior View 531 

The Columbus Dome, Interior View 532 

Palacio's Columbian Globe 533 

The Cantilever 533 

The Auditorium 540 

First Residence in Chicago 543 

Fort Dearborn in 1857 544 

Wolf Point 546 

Pontiac Building 550 

First City Hall 550 

Chamber of Commerce 551 

TheTacoma 552 

The Rookery 555 

First House Erected After the Fire 561 

Scene in Lincoln Park 562 

GarfieldPark 563 

Map of Jackson Park 570 

Administration Building 579 

Electrical Building , 584 

Mining Building 587 

William I. Buchanan 607 

Transportation Building 614 

A Fair Turk 634 




LET US WARM THE WORLD. 




THE FAIR'S AIM AND RESOLVE. 

^ANY of our elders across the water, while they admit that 
Americans may be quite strong upon their legs, still think in 
their souls that they are scarcely out of swaddling clothes — 
at most, are but green youth, who have yet to bear ripe 
fruit. Our own city is such a bounding type of life that 
some good people even in the United States, who are stiff- 
jointed, tire of the buzz, the bustle and the rush, and call the atmosphere 
simply wind. 

Now, what the Government proposes to do, and what Chicago has 
set out to accomplish, is to warm the world up to the blood-heat of 
youth — to prove that there is bottom to American speed, that we are 
grateful to those who gave us birth and strength, and that we are not 
ashamed of our record, but expose it and invite honest criticism. The 
Western Hemisphere is to be weighed by the Eastern. Particularly are 
our elders to say whether those lives have been worth the living, which 
had their second birth when they cut clear of all entangling 
European alliances. The Great Republic and Republican America 
are on trial. 

Although the national act creating the Columbian Exposition pro- 
vides for an exhibition of arts, industries, manufactures, and products of 
the soil, mine and sea, the event looms into vaster proportions the nearer 
we approach it. World's congresses of art, of science, of politics, of 
philosophy, and of religion, will meet in the throbbing heart of this young 
nation, and — we will warm them. America shall stretch forth her hand 
in such a way that the world must grasp it. What is best in the West 
is to be allied with what is noblest in the East. That is the kind of 
entangling alliance which is to cap the nineteenth century. 

9 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



EUROPEAN VISITORS. 



It may be, then, that the unofficial, but homely title — the World's 
Fair — best expresses this idea of national heartiness and warmth. 
Despite every form of legislation which may tend to separate nation 
from nation ; despite wars and rumors of wars, despite famine and pesti- 
lence, the European fathers of the Columbian era shall be drawn to the 
city which the Government has chosen as their host. They shall be 
overcome by a storm of kindnesses. As they are, therefore, destined to 
visit us, it is a pleasure to pave the way to a sociable and profitable 
season by throwing out some information about the characters, the con- 
nections and the homes of our coming guests. In the twinkling of an 
eye, after April 30, 1 893, they will be in Chicago. The world will be 
here. No time then to pick up convenient information about our visitors 
from Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Ger- 
many, Holland, or Russia. So that now — or rather in this book — the 
past and present of these people will be pictured. When we meet them 
at the Exposition they will not then be a mass of strangers to be 
hurriedly assorted, but so many select companies of friends. 

As the prime object of the Columbian Exposition, also, is to cele- 
brate the four hundredth anniversary of the Discovery of America, we 
have organized our tiny World's Fair upon the historic basis. Spain 
was the father of the New World; Italy its mother. Italy gave birth to 
Columbus, Vespucius, John Cabot and other discoverers of minor fame; 
Spain sent forth Columbus and Vespucius, and also Sebastian Cabot, 
after England had withdrawn from the field of Western discoveries, 
Portugal shares with Spain the honor of revealing to the world the 
southern portion of the Western Hemisphere. The discoverer of Brazil 
was a Portuguese, and Vespucius made two voyages in the employ of the 
Portuguese, during one of which he planted the first colony of America, 
on the southeastern coast of that country. There were French fisher- 
men in the Gulf of St. Lawrence before the Cabots sighted any portion 
of her shores; and four years after the Cabots announced their discoveries 
of northern lands, a ship loaded with Portuguese adventurers went down 
in the icy waters of Hudson Bay. After the early Spanish and Portu- 
guese discoveries, the next great advance was made by France, who, 
through an Italian navigator, gave us the Adantic coast line of the 
United States. England was still in the background as a discoverer, 
and so she continued for many years. Take note, therefore, that we 



WHAT OF OUR NORTHMEN r II 

introduce the European nations in the general order of their introduction 
to us, viz.: (i)the great discoverers— the Spaniards, ItaHans, Portuguese 
and Frenchmen; ^^2) the great colonizers— the Englishmen, Scandinavians, 
Germans and Dutch, with the Russians thrown in as representatives 
of an empire which stretches from Germany almost to our own, and 
which claims those savages of Siberia who are so closely connected 
with the natives of Northwestern America. Furthermore, the Russians 
first showed us Alaska, and then sold it to us. We surely do not need to 
strain a point in order to pass the Russian into the European depart- 
ment of the World's Fair. 

WHAT OF OUR NORTHMEN? 

"But what of the Vikings, or Scandinavian sea-kings? Did they 
not sight the shores of Northeastern America, plant their feet there, and 
even establish a colony, five centuries before Columbus saw land?" 

The above queries are indignantly put by scholars and lovers of 
justice throughout the country. 

Granted that they did, and that Columbus during his visit to Ice- 
land, in 1477, carefully examined the documents relating to those discov- 
eries stored in the monastery of Helgafell. For a century and a half 
before he came, no Norse ship had sailed between Iceland and America, 
but since his coming, communication between the Old World and the 
New has never ceased; the Columbian era, which we celebrate, has been 
one of uninterrupted discovery and growth. 

From the Icelandic port which Columbus visited had gone forth, to 
Greenland and stranger lands, some of the most famous of Scandinavian 
explorers. The social, pleasure-loving Icelanders still repeated the old 
sagas, which detailed these voyages and told of the exile to Greenland 
of the murderous leader, Erik the Red; the going with him of his Norwe- 
gian companion, Herjulf; and the search of Bjarni for his father 
Herjulf. Bjarni was in Norway at the time his father left his 
home in Iceland and cast his fortunes with Erik the Red. In the 
days of Columbus, the people still told of the wild lands of ice and wood, 
the beautiful shores and pitiless seas which Bjarni had seen to the South, 
to which he had been driven and over which he had scudded before the 
contrary winds. Their blue eyes lighted with national pride arid their 
gigantic forms grew firmer as they heard from the story singers how 
Leif, the son of Erik, was most scornful when Bjarni returned to his 
father without having had the hardihood to set foot upon the soil of 



1 2 THE WORLD > FAIR. 

these unknown lands; and how the fearless Leif sailed where Bjarni had 
been driven, and placed his foot and his men upon shores which he called 
Helluland (flat-land), Markland (wood-land) and Vinland (vine-land). 

There is nothing in any of Columbus' biographies to prove that he 
knew of the Scandinavian discoveries, or of previous voyages, alleged 
to have been made by Irishmen and Welshmen, to a country further 
south, which was called Great Ireland. But it is most natural that he 
should have heard of tales which formed so large a part of the national lit- 
erature of Iceland. It is probable, however, that they made little im- 
pression upon his mind. Columbus was looking for the golden East, 




FIRST ICELANDIC COLONISTS. 



the land of spices— not a land of mingled ice and wood. In all likeli- 
hood, he reasoned that in order to reach the western passage he would 
have to sail to the south of Great Ireland. It is evident, when, through 
his brother, he applied to Henry VII. of England for assistance, that he 
contemplated sailing in a westerly direction from Great Britain, and pos- 
sibly coasting down the shores of Vinland and Great Ireland in his 
search for the passage to the Indies. The man who had made the dis- 
covery of new lands the study of his life, and had read widely, corres- 
ponded widely, and traveled widely, undoubtedly knew of these western 



WHAT OF OUR NORTHMEN] 



discoveries; for the romances relating to many of them had been in 
native manuscript since the twelfth century, and even before then Adam 
of Bremen, the German priest and historian, in his account of the spread 
of the Catholic religion over the countries of the North, had mentioned 
Vinland as a country to the west which (upon the authority of a Danish 
king) the Icelanders had discovered. It is also in evidence that during 
the first portion of the twelfth cen- 
tury a Roman Catholic bishop was 
appointed to preside over the west- 
ern country. The information that 
something had been discovered to 
the west of Europe had been the 
common property of the well in- 
formed for several centuries before 
Columbus' time, but whatever it 
was, no one believed that it could 
cut any figure in the world, and 
during the Intter part of the fifteenth 
century neither Italian nor German 
geographers dreamed that the Scan- 
dinavian discoveries were to be con- 
nected in any way with the Indian 
problem. 

Even after the oldest Sagas, 
or national songs of Iceland, have 
been translated and studied for two 
centuries by some of the keenest 
scholars in the world, there are com- 
paratively few who are bold enough 
to locate the place where Leif Erik- 
ion landed (looo A. D.), where 
Thorfinn and his three ship loads 
of emigrants planted a colony of 
lumbermen, hunters and farmers, in 1007, and which for two hundred 
and forty years was the seaport of these Northmen, from which they 
shipped lumber, fish and furs. The region around Narragansett Bay, 
Rhode Island, was for years specially favored by earnest Scandinavian 
scholars; but consternation was carried into their ranks when a well- 
known professor, E. N. Horsford, set out to prove from the ancient 
Sagas that the site of the city of Norumbega, where all these industries 




STATUE OF LEIF ERIKSON AT MILWAUKEE. 



H THE WORLDS FAIR. 

were located, with their dams, and docks, and wharves, could be no other 
than the city of Watertown, at the head of tide water, on the Charles 
river, Massachusetts. 

Undoubtedly, the Northmen of Iceland visited the shores of Amer- 
ica, but their romantic Sagas are dangerous geographical guides. Even 
should no other regions than those around Narragansett, or Boston Bay, 
answer the descriptions of Thorfinn's settlement, the ravages of the 
Black Plague placed an embargo upon the ships of the Vikings, which 
was never broken. Denmark also absorbed Norway, and Iceland with 
it. Plagues raged, volcanoes spouted, and the royal masters forbade the 
Norsemen of Iceland to have commerce with any foreign country. Had 
it not been for pestilence, volcano and royal command, by which a misty 
bond of union between Iceland and America was snapped, we might now 
be celebrating the Eriksonian instead of the Columbian era. 

Some, however, who are not satisfied with commencing the era of 
our civilization with poor, abused, deluded, brave Columbus, point to the 
very name Norumbega, which so long adorned the maps, as a proof that 
we should consider ourselves the children of Norway and of Iceland. 
Various localities in Rhode Island indicate a Norse origin —so they say. 
Norbega is the ancient name of Norway; but the Algonquin Indians, 
owing to a radical defect in their speech, were obliged to pronounce the 
country of the Norsemen, Nor'mbega, or Norurnbega. But the advo- 
cates of a previous Celtic discovery of both Iceland and America find 
traces of the old British tongue and of the old British blood among the 
Indians of North America, Mexico and Central America. Our friends 
sometimes do allow that when they run down a Celtic word, or a blue 
eye, in an Indian wigwam, that it may be accounted for by the voyages 
of Prince Madoc and his followers, of Wales, who, according to the 
native bards, did not reach the far West until the twelfth century. As 
to the simple priority of discovering something, somewhere on the 
eastern coasts of North America, previous to the Columbian era, the 
fight seems to be between the Norse and the Irish champions. 

ANCIENT AMERICAN FATHERS. 

But was America first approached from the east? It is the most 
improbable theory that could be advanced; for, during the earliest his- 
toric ages of the world, the wealth and commerce of the universe were 
Asiatic and African. The geographical, the commercial and the enter- 
prising families were the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Indians and the 



ANCIENT AMERICAN FATHERS. I5 

Chinese. For centuries the Phoenicians were the carriers of the ancient 
world, bringing gold and spices from Eastern Africa and Asia. 

The Egyptians were the mathematicians, the astronomers, the geog- 
raphers who recorded all the discoveries and, like other journalists, they 
were subject to fits of romancing, when, in spite of all their travels and 
their pains, they could not obtain reliable information. Like the Chinese 
and the Japanese, they knew they were very ancient and were so proud of 
it that they sometimes invented history in order to put flesh upon their 
vast genealogical skeleton. When compared to the Egyptians, the 
Greeks were the veriest infants. This truth was forcibly impressed in 
the tales told by the solemn old priests of Egypt to such striplings as 
Solon and Herodotus, who came to the hoary land filled with the im- 
portance of their own country. When Egypt told of one of her dynas- 
ties which covered a period of more than 10,000 years, the Greeks 
doubtless paused for breath. When she coolly set out to prove that her 
first great ruler commenced his sway fully 249,000 years before their 
time, the Greek representatives doubtless had some of the conceit taken 
out of them. And before that calm, wise, solemn, bushy-browed old 
Egyptian priest narrated the story of Atlantis to Solon, the Athenian 
law- giver, he exclaimed: "Solon, Solon, you Greeks are but children, 
and an aged Greek there is none!" The tale was that g,ooo years 
previous there was a pathway of islands between Gibraltar and a vast 
Western Continent. One of these islands was held by so powerful a 
nation of warriors that they were about to invade Western Europe, when 
their land was plunged beneath the sea. The great Atlantis was lost, 
but it dissolved into such a body of mud as to forever make the ocean 
impassable and prevent one from reaching the Western Continent. 

Thus the story of Atlantis got into circulation and a Western Con- 
tinent came first to be mentioned to Europeans; and the tale had much 
to do with keeping before their eyes the picture of a vast, dark, haunted 
impassable Western Sea, which was their nightmare until Columbus 
opened their eyes. But the Eastern Seas had been sailed by Phoenicians 
and Egyptians centuries before the tale of Atlantis was ever breathed 
into the startled ear of a European ; and there are leaders of cliques who 
find in the antiquities of Mexico, Central and South America, Phoenician 
letters, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Indian elephant heads; who are con- 
vinced, especially that the Montezumas whom Cortes conquered had 
Egyptian faces, as well as the Incas, whom Pizarro subdued. They 
find evidences, also, on monuments and elsewhere, that these mysterious 
Americans held Ethiopians as slaves. Very well, for the sake of peace 



1 6 THE world's fair. 

at the Columbian Exposition, let it be granted that the ruling classes 
in the empires of Mexico and Peru were descendants of Phoeni- 
cian and Egyptian colonists. Those who refuse to believe in such a 
possibility, who even reject Atlantis and yet are lovers of old age, may 
fall in with that other class, who turn upon all these special pleaders and 
shout: "You know nothing about your Indians, your mound builders, 
your Mexicans or your Peruvians. They are products of American 
soil and have nothing to do with Africa, Asia or Atlantis, Like Topsy, 
they just grew. America is the Old World. Geology proves it. Asia 
was peopled by America." 

The Malays, too, have their patrons. In the early times, the brown- 
skinned sailors were bolder than they are now. Their boats were ves- 
sels in size and general appearance, venturing hundreds of miles 
from land. It is said "they used to construct decked vessels capable of 
carrying one or two hundred persons, with water and stores sufficient 
for a voyage of some weeks' duration. These vessels were made of 
planks well fitted and sewn together, the joints being calked and pitched. 
It is only in recent times that the construction of such vessels has ceased. 
The people had a knowledge of the stars, of the rising and setting of the 
constellations at different seasons of the year. By this means they 
determined the favorable season for making a voyage and directed their 
course." These facts and many others relating to the forefathers of the 
Malays are derived from a mass of historic legends which are still 
current among the people. 

The remains of massive structures of uncemented stone, found in the 
islands of the Pacific archipelagos, even Malayan tradition does not 
attempt to explain. From near Japan to the Easter Island — to within 
two thousand miles of the western shores of America, some mighty 
people has placed its monuments, colossal stone platforms, and gigantic 
statues, as marks of its advance eastward. These may be evidences 
that the modern natives are the degenerate race of these ancient builders. 
At all events it is natural that the nautical Malays, after they had reached 
the easternmost islands, should have ventured beyond them, or been 
driven to the shores of America. For centuries, Japanese barks have 
been thrown upon the Northern American coasts, and the geographical 
conditions are all favorable for a constant interchange of people between 
Northeastern Siberia and Northwestern America. 

All of which is sufficient excuse, if there were no other, for the 
introduction of the Egyptians, the Syrians (who occupy ancient 
Phoenicia), the Malays, th(' Japanese and the Siberians. P\irther, of all 



ENTER THE AMERICAS. 1 7 

the empires of the far East, Japan is the most worthy of being- closely- 
bound to America. She is of to-day as well as of yesterday. She will be 
seen at the Fair in all her wealth of decorative art. Egypt and China 
shall stand forth as an impressive contrast to modern civilization. In 
Australia an Anglo-Saxon state is crowding the remnants of barbarism 
into the desert and out of existence. India, on the other hand, is being 
breathed upon by the Anglo-Saxon, and is giving back to Europe and 
America various philosophies which were musty to her before he was 
born. And that is not all the excuse we have for acquainting the 
friends of the Exposition with the natives of India. Buddhism was born 
in India, and after being killed there by Brahmanism spread to Ceylon, 
Farther India, China, Central Asia, Northern Asia and America, 

Still preserved in the imperial archives of China is an account of a 
Buddhist priest, Hwui Shan, who, upon returning to China from the 
distant eastern country of Fusang, in 499 A. D,, related to the emperor 
what he had seen on the way to that strange land and in the country it- 
self, as well as the distance and the route thither. Other historians take 
up the matter, becoming more and more definite as the centuries pass, 
a certain writer of the seventh century being so precise as to put all the 
Scandinavian romances to the blush. The Chinese distances are com- 
puted in li, which widely vary during different dynasties, but patient in- 
vestigators have taken the trouble to ascertain the equivalent of the 
measurement at the time the various accounts were written, and un- 
hesitatingly say that about the middle of the fifth century a party of 
Buddhist monks, of which Hwui Shan was one, sailed from China along 
its eastern coast, rounded Corea, took a northeasterly direction toward 
the southern point of Kamtchatka and the lower waters of Behring Sea 
to Alaska, and skirted the western shores of North America to Mexico, 

ENTER THE AMERICAS. 

Having introduced in the World's Fair those people who are con- 
nected by tradition, by historic evidence, or by both, with the discovery 
of America, or who will be with us, as friends and co-workers, in 1893, 
we next present (in the printed page) the native races of the Western 
Hemisphere. The engrafted European civilization is here kept in the 
background. The glorious Columbian era is brought out in the picture 
of the Exposition; now, also, the United States, the grandest product of 
the Discovery, comes from its chrysalis. In the superb features of the 
Columbian Exposition, may be read the history of the great republic, 
and a simple hint be gained of its unutterable possibilities. 



1 8 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

THE CHANCE OF FOUR CENTURIES. 

Never before since Columbus was in chains and died in misery has 
the world been provided with such an occasion to right his wrongs. 
Every intelligent person sees that there must have been many — very 
many — pre-Columbian discoveries. Hwui Shan and Leif Erikson may 
have wrongs which should be righted. But we do not celebrate their 
discoveries, because nothing came of them. America was born the 
moment Columbus set foot upon an isle in the West Indies. The cTiild 
did not die an infant, but the world has seen it continuously grow to 
gigantic youthhood. 

All honor and glory to the Columbian Exposition. Show to the 
world what Americans think of Columbus and his work. Vindicate him 
before the universe. Let everything for the moment revolve around 
that care-worn central figure. Crown him! Shout his praises! Let us 
warm the world, not only toward America, but toward the father of 
America. 





THE SPANIARDS, 

THE BASQUES. 

HERE are many speculations afloat regarding the Basques, 
]jI who principally inhabit the three provinces which form a tri- 
angle in Northwestern Spain, its base being the Bay of Biscay 
on the north. At least several groups of scholars have settled 
upon a common theory that the gypsies originally came from 
Northern India, but although the Basques have never been 
really dislodged from their mountain homes and have seen the 
barbarians of Europe moulded into such peoples as the German, 
English and French, and have withstood tides of conquest 
which have swept over their country from the three conti- 
nents, the knotty point as to their origin is so far from being settled that 
scarcely half a dozen -philologists and historians have reached the same 
conclusion. The provinces which they now occupy in Spain constitute 
the ancient Cantabria, which native historians claim had as its pioneers 
Tubal, the son of Japhet, and his family. From this point spread the 
aboriginal population of Europe. They furthermore claim that they 
speak the very language which Noah received from Adam. Certain it 
is that their language is peculiarly their own. They call themselves 
" Euscaldunac," their country "Euscaleria" and their language " Eus- 
cara." 

The Basques have been named as remnants of the people of the 
Lost Atlantis, as Tartars, Huns, Finns, Phoenicians, Berbers, Latins, 
and Iberians, who occupied the peninsula of France and Spain when the 
Celts invaded the country. From the subsequent fusion of Iberians 
(whoever they were) with the Celts arose the Celtiberians, who often 
were the enemies and sometimes the friends of ancient Rome. With 
them the mountaineers, or Basques, found it convenient to league them- 
selves, Augustus Caesar directed his troops against the Cantabrians. 
One of his armies was nearly starved, and a second narrowly escaped an 
ambuscade among the mountains. He was harassed on all sides by the 
hardy aborigines, and at one time retired in disgust But Rome 

19 



20 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

was Stubborn as well as great. The towns of the Basques were 
burned and they retreated to the mountains to watch the con- 
flagrations and wait for the Romans to attack them there. They 
fought like wild cats in the mountains, those who were captured 
submitting with grim determination to the most fearful tortures. The 
Romans built their forts among the mountains and the Basques at- 
tacked them from their natural fortifications. No Roman force could sally 
forth without being surprised by its unconquerable enemies. New 
confederations of the native warriors were formed. A whole Roman 
army was destroyed. The confederation was crushed for the time being, 
and thousands of prisoners marched in chains to Rome. Many of them 
escaped, returned to the Pyrenees and formed a new league. This was 
dispersed by Agrippa. At length the Celtiberians became subjects of 
Rome, leaving the Cantabrians still intrenched in the Western Pyrenees. 
They assisted the Romans against the Gallic tribes and were defeated 
by the Goths on the plains of Navarre. But neither Goth, Vandal nor 
Moor dare pursue them to the mountains as did the Roman, They cut 
the Saracens to pieces and when Charlemagne's victorious army retired 
from the Ebro, his rear guard was attacked in a rocky valley and many 
of his bravest noblemen killed by the Basques. This brought upon them 
a series of conflicts, but the great King of the Franks could not crush 
them. 

The Basque provinces became allies of Castile and Aragon, and 
were incorporated into the kingdom, but they formed a confederation of 
small republics and with Navarre insisted for eight centuries upon retain- 
ing \}i\€vs: fueros, or charters, from the imperial government, by which they 
were guaranteed home rule and exempted from duties on imported 
merchandise and all royal monopolies. They were not subject to con- 
scription for the royal army and no royal troops entered their land with- 
out the permission of the home authorities. Even during the reigns of 
Charles V. and Philip II. these provinces, in spite of imperial encroach- 
ments upon popular government in other provinces, stood forth as a 
brave democracy within a kingdom. Until they organized the Don 
Carlos rebellion against the reigning house, the Basques continued to 
enjoy their bill of rights, but this act resulted, by the war which closed 
in 1876, in its final abolition. 

When these distinguished sons of the Pyrenees (for each Basque is 
a noble) are not proudly and unflinchingly defending their homes and 
their rights, a variety of occupations are open to them. They are said to be 
the first of the Europeans who went fishingfor whales, and even now their 
fisheries upon the coast employ many people. It was from this coast that 



THE BASQUES. 21 

the fishermen and explorers went forth (so claim their descendants) to 
discover Newfoundland. The assumption of the Venetian Cabots, father 
and son, whom history has credited with the discovery, is boldly scouted 
by the proud Cantabrians. 

Metals and marbles of various kinds vein their hills, and they are 
miners. A simple spade or fork is about the only agricultural imple- 
ment with which they cultivate their small farms of four or five acres. 
Wheat, barley and maize are harvested. Although the soil of the valleys 
even is not very rich, the Basque peasant is industrious and his lands 
will compare favorably with those in other portions of the kingdom. His 
hills are covered with oak, beech and chestnut, generally to the very sum- 
mit. The climate is mild and salubrious, and the country is picturesque. 

Besides being tinlike any of the dialects of Southern Europe, the 
Basque language is so difficult to learn that there is a popular legend to 
fhe effect that Satan spent seven years in studying it and thoroughly 
mastered but three words. One might believe the story and admire his 
ability after being confronted with such native monstrosities as these : 
Tzarysaroyarenhtrrearenbarena, or "the center of the mountain road," 
and Azpilcuetagaraycosaroyarenberecolarrea, or "the lower ground of 
the high hill of Azpilcueta." The Basques are of a poetic turn. Their 
bards attend the huskings and salute the washerwomen on the banks of the 
streams and the peasants at their plows, improvising pastorals and tell- 
ing stories and legends. Their theatres are built out from the mountains, 
and native tragedies and comedies are acted, which are pronounced 
remarkably vigorous and fresh. The poets also are honored with fes- 
tivals, in which they are escorted by a procession of horsemen in rich 
uniforms and great bear-skin caps, by musicians and dancers, to a plat- 
form or theatre, where they are happy to show their powers. Their amuse- 
ments, such as their pastoral dramas, are of a national character, the sub- 
jects being taken from the Bible, from Grecian mythology and even 
from Ottoman sources. Their dances, also, are institutions of the coun- 
try, such as the Olympian games in Greece. Formerly the priests took 
part in the excitements of the dance and the women were excluded ; 
now their positions are reversed. 

Such gatherings as these draw the Basques from plain, valley and 
mountain — the women with their superb masses of brown hair, their 
small hands and feet, and the men with their massive features, firm 
mouths, black eyes and dignified bearing. The peasant appears in his 
gala dress — a blue cap, dark velvet breeches, a red scarf around his 
loins and a gorgeous vest, while his pear tree-stick, pointed with iron, is 
slung by a cord to his wrist. 



22 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

The most favorite manly sport is hunting the wild pigeon. " High 
up in the tallest trees of the forest, huts of branches are constructed. 
These huts, around which are arranged decoys, which are made to flut- 
ter whenever a flock of pigeons is signaled, accommodate from four to 
six huntsmen, each one stationed in front of a loop-hole made so as to 
afford an enfilading shot, which will kill a number of birds at once. At 
the sound of the chief's whistle, there is a simultaneous fire and great is 
the carnage. In some quarters great nets are stretched among the trees, 
and the birds, scared by the rattles and b}^ the decoy hawks of wood and 
feathers which are thrown at them, quicken their flight and rush help- 
lessly into the snares." 

IGNATIUS LOYOLA. 

It is in the land of the Basques that Ignatius Loyola, the ardent, 
brave and worldly soldier, first saw this strange world so filled with 
transforming influences ; for the young soldier, fighting against the 
French, was wounded in both legs and was borne to his ancestral castle 
near the modern town of Azpeitia. Having exhausted his large supply 
of romances, the incapacitated soldier, in sheer desperation, fell back upon 
the " Lives of the Saints." But his active soul was fired, and from that 
time on, by a thorough course of study, by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
traveling generally on foot as a mendicant monk, by every possible 
course of thought, self-denial and industry he prepared himself to become 
the founder of that military order of Jesuits whose motto, P. A. C, 
indicates the complete submersion of the individual into the body; for 
P. A. C. {Perinde ac Cadaver) is "just like a corpse" and every Jesuit 
is sworn to obey the orders of his superior, as though he were clay in the 
potter's hands. 

The scene of Loyola's conversion is now a vast monastery, whose 
great dome is brought out with severe distinctness against a rocky mount, 
a short distance beyond. The unfinished wings of the mass of buildings 
give the imaginative, from a distance, the impression of a huge, imperfect 
eagle. Entering the vestibule from the peristyle, which has a semi-circu- 
lar front of black marble, plaster statues of Loyola, Xavier and other 
prominent Jesuits are observed. Passing into the church beneath figures 
of the Virgin and cherubs, one finds himself in a square, cold marble hall. 
" From the vestibule a door on one side opens into an arched passage, 
one side of which is formed by the house of Loyola, built of rough brick, 
and bearing over the door the inscription in gold letters on a black mar- 
ble slab: ' Family house of Loyola. Here St. Ignacio was born in 1491. 
Here, having been visited by St. Peter and by the most Holy Virgin, 



SPANISH GYPSIES. 



23 



he gave himself to God in 1521." The apartment in which they are 
said to have appeared to Loyola forms an inner chapel of the church 
and is a shrine to which thousands of the devout repair. Besides the 
inscription which has been noticed, the escutcheon of the Loyola family 
appears upon another marble slab, it being two wolves disputing over a 
cauldron suspended by a chain. The unfinished portion of the left wing 
of the monastery consists of a simple wall, which is built in front of the 
castle or house of the Saint. 



SPANISH GYPSIES. 

From the Pyrenees to Granada the Spanish gypsy is on his travels, 
camping by Phoenician, Carthaginian, Iberian, Roman, Gothic and 
Moorish fortresses ; pene- 
trating to Madrid with smug- 
glers and horse-thieves, but 
not of them; wandering 
from Madrid to pick up the 
great mules of Western 
Spain and selling and trading 
them over again , curing 
men and horses of various 
distempers ; dancing, sing- 
ing in Seville ; camping in 
the rocky caves within a 
stone's throw of historic 
Granada ; tinkering, pilfer- 
i n g , fortune-telling — the 
Spanish gypsy is the gypsy 
of the world,the professional 
tramp who is not a vagrant, 
for he always has some osten- 
sible means of support, 

Seville, the birthplace a gypsy chief. 

of Murillo, the greatest of Spanish painters, whose 
adorn the walls of its grand churches, is also the headquarters 
of the gypsy musicians and dancers. Here will be found many set- 
tled people of their race, as in other towns of Spain. But the 
gypsy dancing girl is the interesting member of their community — 
she who exhibits to the eyes of Spain the harmony of the Hindu maiden 
and the Egyptian guitar, and glides about to the strains of old Grecian 
and Phoenician melodies. Little children are brought up to the same 




masterpieces 



24 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

perfection by ambitious elders, sometimes venerable grandmothers, who 
encourage their tiny bare feet with the guitar or castanets. 

It is not always for show and gain that the gypsies exhibit their 
accomplishments. Their marriage festivals are particularly boisterous 
and devoted to merry-making — music, song and dance. They have, 
also, their rude poets, whose themes are not always such as would com- 
mend themselves to classical tastes. Cattle-stealings, prison adventures 
and other incidents of wandering gypsy life, with tender bits of love 
ditties and pastoral scenes, quaint scraps and catches, are various themes 
and elements of their verse-making. 

On account of the disorganized condition of society in Spain, much 
of the time, her gypsies, when they permanently take to travel, are 
among the most reckless and unprincipled of their race. They fre- 
quently encamp near remote villages, and when they have consumed and 
stolen everything they can, pass on to the next. Frequently they are 
driven away by the authorities. Then the women and children mount 
the lean asses of the band, ragged and long-haired men goading and 
beating the poor animals to increase their speed, the rear of the uncouth 
cavalcade being guarded by a small party on strong horses, armed with 
guns and sabres, and now and then defiantly blowing a hoarse blast 
upon their horns. 

CADIZ. 

From the Basque provinces to Cadiz, on the Southwestern Spanish 
coast, is from ancient land to ancient city ; but as Cadiz is the great 
starting point of foreign colonization and foreign conquest, and as here 
was taken the next chronological step in the settlement of Spain, it is 
well to rest awhile at the little city by the ocean, standing there square, 
trim and clean. It is surrounded by a wall, its houses are built of white 
stone, and from the water sides, for it is upon a long narrow isthmus of 
an island, nothing can be more fresh in the shape of a city. Cadiz 
has strong sea and land fortifications, and its fine harbor has been 
the scene of conflicts between the Spaniards, English and French, 
between the Spaniards, Moors, Goths, Romans, Carthaginians and 
Phoenicians. The Phoenicians founded it over three centuries before 
the founding of Rome and the ruins of one of their temples is there. 
From Phoenician to Carthaginian, from Carthaginian to Roman, from 
Roman to Vandal, from Vandal to Goth, from Goth to Moor, before 
they all were merged into the Spaniard, is the usual order of ownership 
for the sea-ports of Spain and for most of the country, varied somewhat 
by the position of the district. 



CARTHAGE IN SPAIN. 2$ 

CARTHAGE IN SPAIN. 

Across Southern Spain, on the Mediterranean is another fortified 
town, built on a plain surrounded by hills, the city stretching down to the 
sea. The entrance to its spacious harbor is narrow and is commanded 
by the fortifications on an island to the south. Its old streets, its old 
cathedral and its ruined castle on the hill are Moorish in the extreme, but 
the Moors only restored that city to something of its former magnifi- 
cence, which was the stronghold of the Carthaginians on the northern 
coast of the Mediterranean, and which was stormed and captured by 
the Romans 210 b. c. Thirty years previous it had been named 
New Carthage, and was designed as the Carthaginians' base of opera- 
tions in Europe against the Romans. Before that time Phoenicians 
had planted a fortress and a lighthouse upon a rock overhanging 
the city, in whose sides these bold colonists had found numerous 
caves in which lived the savage aborigines. Under Rome it was 
a city of wealth and importance, 40,000 men being employed in the 
neighboring mines of Tharsis, which formed the attraction of the 
Phoenicians. The Goths sacked the city, and even under Spanish rule 
it was the largest naval arsenal in Europe. But now the place is dilap- 
idated, its dockyards and arsenal are deserted, and only a few walls 
remain of the Carthaginian fortress held by the family of Hannibal, or of 
the lighthouse which guided the ships to the Tarshish of Scripture, lying 
at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. 

" Local tradition declares that a superb piece of tapestry in the old 
dismantled cathedral was brought back from the Indies by Christopher 
Columbus on his first voyage, and was suspended there by him as a 
grateful recognition of God's mercy, in the presence of Ferdinand and 
Isabella. This is not quite exact. The truth seems to be that the 
tapestry was paid for by the gold which Columbus brought back with 
him, and that it represents the birds and beasts, the fruits and flowers 
of the New World, as far as he could describe them. That it was sus- 
pended by Columbus seems certain, attested as it is by the familiar 
escutcheon and legend which are placed over it. It will scarcely be 
credited that the cathedral is rapidly falling into ruins, and that the 
tapestry is rotting from the walls." 

SPANISH MOROCCO. 

The territory lying between these ancient towns and between the 
Guadalquivir River and the Mediterranean Sea is what may be called 
the Morocco of Spain. In Granada (which was the last of the Moslem 



26 THE world's FAIR. 

kingdoms to fall) and Castile are, in fact, to be found about 00,000 
people who have kept their Moorish blood singularly pure, being known 
as Modejars. Despite the Inquisition, the banishments and burn- 
ings, the Moors not only remain, but they have impressed many of their 
customs upon the country. 

"In Toledo, in Cordova, in Granada, or in the older parts of Seville, 
it would be easy to believe oneself in a Moorish or Egyptian town. The 
narrow streets are inclosed by high walls, almost windowless, and perfo- 
rated by only a single low door. Everything looks gloomy and sombre. 
But peep through the iron grating which protects the doorway, and you 
will see 2i patio bright with flowers and fountains and greenery. The 
windows of the chambers open into this quadrangle, and the inmate? can 
enjoy light and air, bright sunshine and cool shade, without leaving the 
seclusion of their houses or being exposed to the gaze of any not belong- 
ing to the family. This style of architecture has been handed down 
directly from the Moors. And in numberless details of dress and daily 
life the same influence may be traced. The mantilla which forms the 
head-dress of almost every woman in Spain, is simply a relic of the veil 
universally worn by the wives and daughters of the Moslem. Wander 
into the outskirts of any town in Spain, and you will hardly fail to stum- 
ble upon groups of ragged, picturesque varlets, lying at full length upon 
some sunny bank, sunning themselves just as a group of Bedouins would 
do. Go out into the country, and you will hear the creaking of the 
waterwheel and see the patient oxen treading their ceaseless round, 
turning the ponderous machine, which has come down unchanged from 
the days of the Moors. The peasants of Andalusia, Murcia and Granada 
are seldom to be seen without a long staff, which they grasp and carry 
exactly as an Arab does his spear. The velvet hat of the Spanish majo 
is clearly a reminiscence of the turban. In private houses, hotels and 
cafes servants are summoned by clapping the hands as in the Arabian 
Nights." 

In the mettle, grace and docility of the horses of Andalusia, also» 
are seen the strong points of the Arabian steeds. Since the country 
was stocked by the Moors with their finest breeds they have somewhat 
degenerated ; still enough specimens of the famous stock remain to 
remind one of the Moorish rule. Since the decline in wealth and mag- 
nificence of the Spanish nobility, the demand for blooded horses has 
decreased. The celebrated breed of the sovereigns of Spain at Cordova 
is nearly extinct, and the wealthiest Andalusian nobles have only a few 
saddle horses. The noble Arabian steed, the pride of the Moor and the 
native sheik, is disappearing before the mules and asses which are used for 



SEVILLE. 27 

domestic, agricultural and transportation purposes. Immense droves of 
these animals are continually passing from Old Castile, where they are 
bred, to the rich pastures of Estremadura, where they are reared, and 
supplied to the rest of Spain, principally for transportation purposes. 
The asses even rival those of Egypt, being sure-footed, strong and docile, 
and nearly equal in size to the mules. 

SEVILLE. 

In fact, from Seville and the banks of the Guadalquivir to the 
Mediterranean Sea, the Arabs of Morocco have buried Phoenician, 
Roman and Gothic civilizations. Although the native place of the 
Roman Emperors Trajan, Adrian and Theodosius, called by Caesar 
Little Rome, and adorned by great edifices worthy of a favorite child of 
the empire, Seville is a purely Moorish city. The capital of Southern 
Spain during the ascendency of the Vandals and the Goths, it is still dis- 
tinctively Moorish. A few miles away are the ruins of a magnificent 
Roman amphitheatre — all that remains of the palaces and ambitious 
structures of half a dozen Roman emperors and conquerors. 

Time has not buried Rome completely out of sight, here in Moor- 
land, Massive stones of the amphitheatre now confine the waters of the 
Guadalquivir and appear in the walls of a neighboring convent, while 
during the five centuries that the Moors held Seville the city was rebuilt 
from the materials of former Roman edifices. Certain quarters of the city 
have not been changed, and one may there find cool shadows cast across 
the narrow, crooked streets, from spacious mansions, with ample courts 
and gardens. Attached to the mighty Spanish cathedral of Seville is a 
remarkable Moorish tower, to which a lofty pinnacle has been added 
since the city came under the Spanish rule. The tower formerly was 
part of a great Mohammedan mosque. It is now a portion of the 
Catholic church, within which are paintings by Murillo, whose house may 
be seen from it. Surmounting the pinnacle, 350 feet from the ground, 
is a female figure in bronze, fourteen feet high, which serves as a weather- 
vane and which is so nicely poised that it is swerved by the slightest 
breeze. 

The Alcazar, originally a Moorish palace, has been remodeled until 
it is a rival of the Alhambra in delicate ornamentation. It is the royal res- 
idence, and a royal one, truly. At a little distance from the palace is an 
octagonal tower, partly Moorish and partly Roman in its architecture ; it 
is called the Tower of Gold. One story is that Columbus stored therein 
the first American gold ; on the other hand, it is alleged that the name 
was given to it long before Columbus ever set sail from Palos. 



28 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

But the Seville of to-day is not the capital of a Moorish kingdom 
with half a million people. Although when Ferdinand of Castile passed 
in as a conqueror, 300,000 Moors passed out, bound for Granada and 
Africa, it continued a great city until the discovery of America, when it 
almost reached its former plane of prosperity. Cadiz afterwards seized 
its trade, and with the decline of Spain as a commercial power Seville 
fell with it. It is still a beautiful city, surrounded by Moorish walls and 
Moorish towers. 

Seville was, furthermore, the headquarters of the Inquisition in 
Spain, but it was not until the Reformation, from Germany, commenced 
to send its New Testaments into Spain and make converts that it was 
brought to bear with such shocking cruelty upon the people. Single 
executions were thought inadequate to suppress the heresy, and the 
autos da fe, or public burnings, were inaugurated at Valladolid and 
Seville, and spread over the land. Barcelona, Cordova, and others 
had, also, their gloomy prisons of the Inquisition filled with heretics 
until emptied by the autos da fe. Ten years of such vigorous war 
stamped out Protestantism. 

CORDOVA. 

Ascending the river from Seville, a mass of sad-looking buildings is 
occasionally seen through the intervening groves of palm and olive trees, 
The road to the city is through gardens of roses, oranges, oleanders, 
with all the foliage of the Orient to give them a rich shading. As Cor- 
dova is approached — so long the capital and center of the great Moorish 
empire — its wall even has a patched and dejected air, traces of Roman, 
Gothic and Moorish workmanship being found in it. Cordova was for 
three centuries one of the grandest centers of commerce and of a civil- 
ization far in advance of the rest of Europe ; a sublime city of mosques, 
hospitals, schools and palaces, the banks of the Guadalquivir being lined 
with extensive gardens in which were innumerable fountains, palm trees, 
and Oriental pavilions. Cordova was the metropolis of the industrious 
race which made Southern Spain bloom like a garden ; which laid out 
her rich plains into sugar, rice and cotton plantations; which brought in 
chemistry, paper, elegant manufactures, and the numerical system which 
we use to-day. Each garden whose orange and citron groves were 
reflected in the clear waters of the Guadalquivir was the haunt of the 
botanist. Like the Jews, the Moors were famous physicians. They 
taught medicine, astronomy, mathematics and philosophy when the rest 
of Europe was just emerging from primitive ignorance, so that the 
schools of Cordova educated the Christians of all nations, who sought the 



29 



learning of the East which the Arabs had brought from Egypt, India, 
Persia and Asia Minor, via Morocco. The expulsion of the Moors and 
the Jews was a blow to Spain whose effects can never be entirely coun- 
teracted. 

The only striking architectural monument of this great empire 
which remains in its now lifeless capital is a superb mosque, which was 
built by the first caliph of the Spanish Moors after they rebelled against 
the rule of the Damascus princes. This able and amiable monarch, shel- 
tered by the Bedouins of Arabia and Africa from his Damascus enemies, 
was chosen by the sheiks as the leader of the Moors in Spain. It was 
in the middle of the eighth century that he landed on the coast of 
Andalusia, and commenced his tri- 
umphal march to Seville and Cor- 
dova. In his person were united 
the performances of the future. 
He it was who transplanted the 
palm into Spain. His mosque ab- 
sorbed the talent and skill of the 
most expert architects, masons and 
workmen among the Arabs and 
Jews — in fact, the genius of the age 
was lavished upon its interior. To 
inspire enthusiasm, as well as to 
instill a spirit of humility and piety 
into the work, its princely founder 
is said to have daily labored with 
hod and trowel. Marbles came to 
form its beauties from the ancient 
temples of Europe, Asia and Africa, 
and when all was ready the Islam 
monarch looked upon what might,!;^^^^ 
be a stately grove of palm trees, 
their trunks taking every hue of 
the rainbow and their branches and a Spanish girl. 

leaves lost in the profusion of the Arabesque decorations and vault- 
ed roofs. From the center of the building naves run in all direc- 
tions. The Holy of Holies, where the Koran was deposited, was a 
recess roofed with a carved block of marble, lined with rich mosaics, and 
the cornices inscribed with Moslem texts in letters of gold. This inde- 
scribable sanctuary has not suffered at the hands of later architects, and 
is all the more impressive standing out in its ancient perfection from the 




30 THE world's fair. 

Catholic cathedral whose .founders have generally covered the ornamen- 
tations and inscriptions of Islam with thick paint and whitewash. Other 
appropriate alterations have been made, which, however, greatly mar 
this grandest of the monuments of Moorish Mohammedanism. 

THE GARDENS OF SPAIN. 

Not only did the Moors bring the palm tree into Spain ; but soon 
rice and sugarcane were products of the country; groves of mulberry 
and banana trees were waving ; and the almond, fig, orange, 
citron, pomegranate and pineapple were flourishing like native 
growths. The cactus also was given root, and not only run riot in the 
south, but became a striking garden ornament. It is in the gardens of 
Spain, in fact, as much as in the architecture, that the Moors have left 
their impress. Even without the flat-roofed buildings, the fountains and 
the arabesque work, when one wanders in these gardens which are in 
and around nearly every old town of Central and Southern Spain, and 
which are profusions of tropical foliage and fruit, the air laden with fra- 
grance, dates overhead, oranges and lemons within reach, he can scarcely 
believe himself in Europe. 

In some cities which are but ghosts of their former greatness, broad 
tracts which have been deserted and which once supported palaces, 
mosques or manufactories, are now planted, not only to tropical fruits, 
but to the apple, peach, plum and pear. But they flourish equally well 
as do wheat, maize and barley, with the grains of the tropics 

In fact, nature has made Spain one of the most productive of coun- 
tries, but the Spaniard, since the exit of the Moor, has not improved 
his opportunities. His neglect is partly owing to the fact that the 
Spanish nobility own immense tracts of land, which they are unable to 
cultivate, but hold from generation to generation. The farmers them- 
selves are generally so poor that even the smaller holdings are covered 
with mortgages. As an instance of the disregard in which their rights 
are held by the government, it is said that the proprietors of large flocks 
of Merino sheep, passing through the country, are privileged to drive 
their animals not only over village pastures but over private lands. 
The farmers are obliged to provide a broad passage way for these lordly 
sheep owners, " and no new enclosure can be made in the line of their 
migrations ; nor can any land which has once been in pasture be again 
cultivated until it has been offered to them at a certain rate." Improved 
methods of agriculture, however, are being introduced by foreign capi- 
tal, and the fertile plains of Granada, Murcia and Valencia, in some 



THE GOTHIC-ROMAN PRINCES. 3 1 

places still irrigated through the old Moorish water works, are being 
carefully and intelligently cultivated. 

Another branch of husbandry in which the Spaniards engage, but 
with their usual carelessness, is the cultivation of the vine. Yet, to a 
great extent, the natural advantages of the regions adjacent to the 
ocean and sea coasts of Southern and Southeastern Spain have counter- 
acted Spanish laxity. The most famous wine is the sherry, which 
comes from the district around Cadiz. Nearly all the brands which 
leave that port for Great Britain and this country are light, dry, table 
wines, containing naturally considerable alcohol and made more spirit- 
uous by additions from other fermented vintages, pure spirits, and decoc- 
tions and preparations drawn from over-ripe grapes. The choicest wines 
of the Cadiz district never reach the palates of foreign consumers, but 
are generally mixed with poorer sorts, which are thus mellowed and col- 
ored into all the outward appearance of the finest grades. There is a 
" mother of wine " as there is " a mother of vinegar," which is used to 
impart bouquet and color to cheap liquors, and although when it has 
been years in preparation, the stock being always kept up, it is abso- 
lutely disgusting to the taste, it becomes so potent in imparting the best 
qualities of " the true sherry " that a butt of it commands from ^800 
to ^1,000. 

The country between Malaga and Granada, in Andalusia, is the 
home of the Malaga raisins and the Malaga wines. Three crops of 
grapes come annually from the vineyards of the Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains, the first being worked up into raisins and the other two into dry 
and sweet wines. Strong, dark wines are made from the grapes of Mur- 
cia and Valencia, the latter province having the best reputation. Of the 
Valencia wines, the Alicante stand at the head, being sometimes almost 
as thick and rich as syrup. Northern Spain is a wine-raising territory, 
but has no more than a local reputation. 

No, the wines of Spain can not be attributed to the Arabs ; for the 
Koran prohibits wine. The Goths, however, were drinkers of wine, and 
into the land of the Goths we now go. 

THE GOTHIC-ROMAN PRINCES. 

The Moors drove the Goths far beyond Cordova, far beyond the 
great chain of Sierra Morena mountains, which stretch a mighty barrier 
across the whole of Southern Spain. This they surmounted, and through 
the rocky passes of the Sierra Toledo they also swept, besieging mighty 
Toledo itself, the capital of the kingdom of the Goths. Their victorious 
course lay from the battle-fields northeast of Cadiz over half a dozen 



32 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Stupendous mountain chains to the plain of Tours, where the Franks 
turned them back into Spain. For three centuries the Moors flourished, 
except in extreme Northern Spain, the Guadalquivir River, however, 
marking- the center of their greatest glory ; but the rival Mohammedan 
factions in Morocco continually carried their wars into Spain, and by the 
early part of the eleventh century they broke the caliphate of Cordova 
into pieces, the fragments reappearing as small kingdoms. Although 
driven north the Christian princes were left to fight among themselves, 
the Moslems giving their strength to the country of the Franks and the 
islands of the Mediterranean to the east of Spain ; it was, without doubt, 
the dream of the Mohammedans of the West to join hands with the 
Mohammedans of the East and establish a mighty kingdom around the 
shores of the Mediterranean. But while the Mohammedans of Spain 
were a prey to internal dissensions the Gothic-Roman princes of the 
North buried their differences under the cover of a common cause. In the 
latter half of the eleventh century the King of Castile (now known as 
Old Castile) recovered Toledo, making it his residence and naming his 
territory New Castile. The capital of New Castile then became the 
base of operations for the Christian princes of the North against the 
Mohammedan states of the South, and afterward was the capital of 
Spain. 

TOLEDO. 

Between high and rocky banks the Tagus rushes around the rugged 
hills upon which the city stands, leaving only one approach by land. 
When Alfonso took the city he found this closed by a sturdy wall 
repaired four centuries before his time by the Gothic King, Wamba, the 
original structure being Roman. Beyond this he placed another wall, 
both of which stand with the ruined fortress of Alcazar — haunted by 
the ghosts of Roman, Moorish and Spanish architects — to tell of the 
rise and fall, the retreat and advance, of the races of men. From the 
center of the silent, gloomy city, rises the massive cathedral, surrounded 
by churches and convents, nearly all of which occupy the sites of old 
Mosques or Jewish synagogues. Many historians, in short, claim that 
Toledo was founded by Jewish colonists six centuries B. C, and at the 
time of the invasion of Spain by the Moslems, it is said that in the 
neighborhood of the city an Arab general found the original table of 
shewbread, adorned with hyacinths and emeralds, made by Solomon and 
secreted by the Jews when the treasures of the temple were carried by 
Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. The oldest of the synagogues now stand- 
ing was built in the ninth century under the tolerant rule of the Moors; 



GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA. 



33 



Other synagogues have been transformed into churches, but this one, 
whose ceiling is believed to have been constructed of the cedars of 
Lebanon, was used as a cavalry stable during the French occupanc)- and 
is now quite deserted. 

Two miles from the city walls, with their remarkable towers and 
gates, stands a great building, the royal sword manufactory, a remem- 
brance only of the days when the Toledo blades were so famous as to be 
thought worthy of the pen of Livy, 

About a century after Toledo became the capital of Castile, another 
Alfonso, joined by the Kings of Aragon, Navarre, Leon and Portugal, 
marched southward across La Mancha, which Cervantes was to make 
famous, and met on the plains of Tolosa, in the Sierra Morena, one of 
the greatest armies which the Mos- 
lems had ever sent against the 
Christians. The Mohammedan dy- 
nasty which had built its power 
upon the dismembered caliphate of 
Cordova was crushed, and from its 
death sprung into life the last of the 
noted Moorish kingdoms — that of 
Granada. 

GRANADA AND THE 
ALHAMBRA. 

The succeeding history, before 
the country was united, consists of 
a gradual absorption by Castile and 
Aragon of the Moorish and Christ- 
ian states, a healing of their jeal- 
ousies by the marriage of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella and the final' gate of the alhambra. 
conquest of Granada, which had sustained the assaults of Christian 
foes for two hundred years. The gateway into the fertile kingdom 
is from the west across the broad plain of Vega, bordered on 
the south by the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas, which cool the hot 
breezes from the south into delightful freshness. One of the mountain 
spurs stretches out into the plain, at the foot of which, upon two hills, 
rests the last stronghold of the Moors, the center of that last grand 
civilization from which even the opulent cities of Italy drew much of 
their prosperity. Upon one of the hills which formed the city's site rose 
the royal palace and fortress of the Alhambra, surrounded by gardens, 




34 . THE world's fair. 

and containing everything which might enable the monarchs of Granada 
to enjoy themselves in fancied security. Although since the year's siege 
by the King and Queen of Spain, which resulted in the fall of Granada, 
the Alhambra has been disfigured and pillaged, remodelled, many of its 
ancient towers blown up, etc., etc., in ruins it has aroused the enthusiasm 
of the lovers of the beautiful from every land. Without, a city of towers 
and massive walls ; within, still a succession of marble, alabaster and 
cedar halls, ornamented with arabesques and stucco-work of mother-of- 
pearl, ivory and silver, beautiful fountains within playing musically to 
the soft breezes without — the Alhambra is all that the fair pens of a 
score of Washington Irvings could picture it. 

The Alhambra is divided by a narrow glen from the Generalife, 
another Moorish palace surrounded with gardens and fountains. Its 
towers are taller and lighter than those of the Alhambra and it stands 
upon a loftier height ; for it was the summer palace of the Granada 
Kings. 

From the Alhambra and the Generalife the grand panorama of 
Granada is spread in all its variety ; the broad plain formerly teeming 
with the riches of the temperate zone and the tropics; the mountains 
with the ruins of fortified towns and solitary castles stretching toward the 
west ; the Xenil winding through orchard, "garden and grove, and from 
the south bright streams coming down the Sierra Nevada. It is the 
Granada of old with the life of man gone out of it. 

SOUTHERN AND EASTERN COASTS. 

Skirting the coast of Spain from Cadiz, the first port of interest 
going east is Palos, a sleepy enough little town, but in 1491, when Colum- 
bus stopped at the convent of La Rabida, near that port, it boasted the 
most enterprising mariners in all Spain. The great discoverer had 
determined to start for Cordova, on , his way to France, being weary of 
the delays with which he met in Spain, but stopping at the gatQ of the 
convent to ask for some bread and water for his boy, the prior became 
interested in him and his dazzling enterprise, obtained for him a personal 
interview with Ferdinand and Isabella, and the Spaniards, instead of the 
French, were enabled to claim the discovery of America as their honor. 
Columbus sailed from Palos. The dilapidated town is still there, and 
between it and the sea shore is the old convent whose prior played so 
important a part in the discovery of America. 

With its galleries tunneled through the rock on the north front, 
through which hundreds of huge guns frown at the bay and command the 



SOUTHERN AND EASTERN COASTS. 



35 



sandy isthmus which connects EngHsh with Spanish soil, looms the huge 
promontory of Gibraltar. Barracks, fortresses and batteries on the 
summit and west side, on which are the bay and town, the descent being 
precipitous on the remaining sides, is a matter-of-fact, dry description 
of a very matter-of-fact sort of an institution. It would be useless to 
describe more fully that great fortress which stands as an index of the 
English character, and upon which thousands of English writers have 
cast their artillery of adjectives. 

During the prevalence of the southwest winds vessels compelled to 
leave Gibraltar often sail to the fine port of Malaga, a dazzling city of 

white houses, commanded by one 
of those massive Moorish castles 
which become tiresome in the 
mere telling but are ever fasci- 
nating in the seeing. Some say 
Malaga was founded by the Ibe- 
rians. Others suppose the name 
to be the Phoenician for salt fish, 
which was one of its most famous 
exports. Malaga is now best 
known as the city from which 
go out the muscatel raisins, as 
fine as any the world knows 
about. Olive oil and sugar are 
also largely exported. Malaga, 
in fact, despite her Moorish air 
and ancient castle, is in the active 
current of to-day. 

Coasting along the shores of 
PEASANT OF EASTERN SPAIN. Granada, with the Sierra Nevadas 

In the distance, and passing numbers of villages which formerly saw the 
vessels of many nations bound for their prosperous capital, Cartagena is 
reached, and, if the traveler desires, on this former border land of Moorish 
territory he may take a trip inland by railway to Murcia, the capital of 
the province. " Lying out of the route of travelers it is almost unvisited, 
and having little commerce except with the peasantry of its fertile huerta, 
it retains its old costumes, manners and customs with even more than 
Spanish tenacity. The men wear a tartan plaid, like that of a Scotch 
shepherd, only more brilliant in color. The women greatly affect bright 
yellow and scarlet, and even the poorest contrive to interweave a few 
flowers into their hair. The costumes through the whole of the eastern 





SPANISH HARMONY. 



THE CID, 37 

provinces are very strange and very Moorish. Hempen sandals take the 
place of shoes ; the legs are either bare or covered by a footless cotton 
stocking. In many districts the peasantry wear very wide calico drawers, 
reaching down to the knees and looking like a short petticoat, and a 
close-fitting jacket covered with spangles and embroidery. The plaid 
is commonly substituted along this coast for the mantle patronized by 
the Castilians." 

THE CID. 

Northward from Murcia to the river Ebro and clear across Spain to 
Portugal is the broad scene of action of Spain's greatest national hero, 
the CidCampeador,or Lord Champion. The title "Cid" came from the 
Moors and the "Campeador" from his own countrymen; for in the 
course of his romantic life he fought with and against the Moorish kings. 
But with whomsoever he cast the weight of his mighty arms that mon- 
arch triumphed. At length, banished by a Christian king, he joined 
the Moorish kings of Saragossa, in whose service he fought against 
both Moslems and Christians. Though his fame spread over Europe 
and the brilliancy of his exploits was such that he became in imagina- 
tion a modern Hercules with an invincible sword, in order to maintain 
his family and his followers he was forced to turn against his former 
allies, and, after a stubbornly contested siege of ten months, he wrested 
Valencia from the Moors. . The Cid was promptly besieged, in turn, by 
a great army of Moors. As they lay encamped beneath the walls of 
Valencia, tradition represents him as coolly leading his terrified wife and 
daughters to one of the towers, where they could see the Moslem host 
below, and all around them a mighty grove or garden of citrons, oranges, 
and palms. Assuring his family of victory he collected his handful of 
followers and giving battle to the Moorish troops defeated them and 
drove them from the city. The tower of Miguelete is pointed out as 
the point from which he looked over his fair and newly-acquired prov- 
ince, covered with grain and rice fields and thick with palm and mul- 
berry trees, and so confidently predicted his usual victory. 

The city is still the center of a fertile region, ingeniously watered 
by a system of pipes and rivulets, perfected by the Moors eight centuries 
ago. It is a pleasant walled city with macadamized streets, with old 
gloomy houses and new bright ones painted blue, rose and cream 
color, with picture galleries illustrative of the famous Valencian school, 
and, all in all, one of the several Spanish cities which is wide awake. 
Both the Cid and his wife ruled over ancient Valencia, which was an old 
city before Pompey took and destroyed it and it was rebuilt by the 



38 THE world's fair. 

Romans. Alicante, although an important and picturesque port of the 
province of Valencia, is not of interest, historically. 

For some distance above Valencia, along the coast, Roman settle- 
ments are constantly obtruding themselves. A short ride from the city 
is a modest enough looking town, standing upon a hill near the mouth of 
a small river. Its site was the ancient, opulent Saguntum, whose heroic 
citizens, having beaten off, for many long months, Hannibal's great army 
of 150,000 men, at length in despair placed the women and children 
around a vast heap of valuables. When, from their elevated post the 
wives, sisters and daughters saw their famished protectors being cut to 
pieces by the fierce, well-fed Carthaginians they set fire to the pile, and, 
with their children, cast themselves into the welcome embrace of the 
flames. The siege and destruction of Saguntum brought upon the 
Carthaginians the Second Punic war. Few traces of its former great- 
ness remain, the Temple of Diana (relic of its Grecian founders) and the 
Roman amphitheatre having been used for fortifications during the 
Peninsula war. 

BARCELONA. 

All along to Barcelona are scattered fragments of Roman works, 
indicating where were once imperial cities, overrun by Vandals, Goths 
and Moors, and used by Spaniards for the building material of modern 
towns and farm houses. Next to Cadiz, Barcelona is the most import- 
ant sea port in Spain, and during the middle ages, except by Genoa, it 
stood unrivaled on the Mediterranean. Barcelona has also been called 
the " Athens of the Troubadours," as an evidence that it was a favorite 
resort of the courtly poets and scholars of the middle ages, as well as 
the princely mercantile classes. It was a favorite resort of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, and here they received Columbus after his discovery of 
America. The most important manufacturing city in Spain, Barcelona 
is also a beautiful place, the old and new districts being separated by 
the Rambla, a dry river bed, which has been planted with flowering 
shrubs and made into an attractive promenade. 

THE ROMANS AND THE CELTS. 

From Barcelona west, through Northern Spain, is traversed the 
stronghold of the old Gothic power, which, at last, became the basis of 
the Spanish state. We are now within sight of the Pyrenees, spurs 
from the main body running down into the provinces of Catalonia and 
Aragon to form green, pleasant valleys. In the western part of Cata- 
lonia is a military stronghold, Lerida, which guards the approach from 



THE ROMANS AND THE CELTS. 39 

the north to the districts of Eastern Spain, and from the south to some 
of the most convenient passes into France, It is a gloomy-looking 
town, with the usual accompaniments of a fortified place, but even 
before the time that Scipio Africanus defeated Caesar in the neighboring 
plain, it was considered by the Romans an important strategic point in 
the possession of their Spanish conquests. Before the Romans came 
the Celtiberians had discovered the advantages of the position, and it 
was undoubtedly the site of one of their primitive towns, 

Lerida is on a branch of the Ebro, and further west, in the center 
of old Aragon, and upon the muddy river itself, is Saragossa, the Celti- 
berian Salduba and the Roman Caesarea Augusta. The Moors took it 
from the Goths, and although they held it for three centuries they re- 
tained it during a continuous siege of five more years, during which 
famine nearly depopulated the city. Seven centuries afterwards Sara- 
gossa, defended by the heroic Duke Palafox, sustained for eight months 
one of the most bravely and brilliantly contested sieges of modern times, 
the French being the investing parties. It has been a city of sieges, and 
seems to have exhausted its strength in sustaining them so stubbornly. 
Its palaces are ever crumbling away, having been partially destroyed or 
weakened by the heavy ordnance of modern guns, and those which show 
evidences that they are substantial have been deserted by the nobility. 
" These buildings, rich in finely carved decorations and magnificent cor- 
nices, are now mostly inhabited by agriculturists of a rude class, their 
spacious courts converted into farm yards and filled with manure." 
Massive and elegant churches and convents are yet standing, however, 
to give the city an imposing appearance from the distance, which impres- 
sion is not borne out by a nearer inspection. 

One of its cathedrals — the Church of Our Lady of the Pillar — 
commemorates the pretended miracle by which the Virgin Mary was 
brought from Heaven upon a pillar of jasper that she might encourage 
St. James, whom she had sent to Spain to preach the Gospel. The pillar 
and her heavenly image are still shown to the crowds of pilgrims who 
press from all parts of Spain toward the jeweled church and the sacred 
relics which it incloses. 

When we cross the bounds of Aragon into Old Castile we enter a 
district made memorable by the stubborn stand which the Celtiberians 
made against the armies of Rome sent to subdue the troublesome 
aborigines. Near the site of the present town of Soria the Roman 
legions under Scipio assaulted and besieged their chief town. This was 
but the last scene in a series of bloody conflicts which its citizens had 
sustained for twenty years. For fifteen months 60,000 disciplined 



4© THE world's fair. 

soldiers stormed, besieged and starved these ancient heroes, who from 
8,000 slowly melted into a pitiful band, before the town was taken and 
destroyed. 

The traveler has also set foot upon the native land of the Cid and 
begins to enter the territory wherein, after Napoleon's disastrous 
campaign in Russia, were enacted the closing scenes of the Peninsula 
War between his lieutenants and the Duke of Wellington. The birth- 
place of the Spanish hero was Burgos, the capital of Old Castile, where 
his remains, with those of his heroic wife, are laid. Their sculptured 
figures lie together upon a square sarcophagus at San Pedro de Cardena, 
while, for a small fee a wooden box and a bottle will be exhibited at Burgos, 
in which are kept the bones of the Cid and the ashes of his wife. This 
city, which was so long the center of the shifting league against the Moorfe, 
which, with the Cantabrians to the north, held Northwestern Spain 
against their Moslem foes, is now a dull and gloomy city, with a noble 
Gothic cathedral, picturesque and stately beggars, and various chapels 
rich in fine sculpture and tombs. 

Across Old Castile and Galicia to the northwest of Spain is a long 
run, and only to reach a bustling, fortified seaport on the Atlantic coast ; 
but it has a monument to Sir John Moore, who fell while fighting the 
French on the heights behind the town, being buried on the ramparts in 
his military cloak. First Philip sailed from Coruna, this seaport town, 
on his way to marry Mary of England, and over thirty years thereafter 
he embarked with the great Armada to conquer the country which he 
could not obtain by marriage. 

THE MECCA OF SPAIN. 

A short distance from Coruna was a cathedral which was, for cent- 
uries, an even greater shrine than the Church of Our Lady of the Pillar 
at Saragossa. It is declared that after St. James was beheaded he set sail 
from Joppa, the seaport of Jerusalem, either in a boat or his stone coffin, 
and landing on this coast his body was mysteriously deposited in a cave, 
where, after remaining for half a dozen centuries or more, it was drawn 
to the city of Santiago, where the cathedral was built and pilgrimages 
were instituted. He therefore often came to the assistance of the 
Spaniards in their wars against the infidels, and to the battle-cry of St. 
James was added "Santiago." The archbishop's palace, cloister and 
cathedral form the most imposing of Santiago's structures. They cover 
nearly four acres of ground, and into the foundations of the cathedral are 
believed to be built the bones of St. James. Besides those occupied the 
town contains numbers of convents and nunneries in ruins. 



VA.LLADOLID. 



41 






VALLADOLID. 

Had it not been for this side trip to the Mecca of Spain, after leav. 
ing Coruna our way would have laid toward Valladolid, Philip's birth- 
place, and, strangely enough, the scene of the first auto da fd, which the 
•cruel monarch witnessed from a balcony overlooking the Plaza de Campo. 
This famous square was devoted to tournaments, bull fights and such 
•other exhibitions as the Inquisition brought forth. Here also Napo- 
leon reviewed his 35,000 troops who had succeeded in seriously dam- 
aging the interior of the Convent San Pablo and the Colegio de San 
Uregorio, which stood near the royal palace, and whose ruins are among 
the grandest of Gothic ecclesiastical edifices in the world. But greater 
than her ruins, her gallerie^ '^^ 
statues and pictures, her dese l 1 
palaces of royalty and the In 
quisition, and even herexten 1 
university, are the houses of ^ 
lumbus and Cervantes— ill 
scenes of death and of the I n il 
revision of " Don Quixote." I li 
house where Columbus died '- 
at last accounts, a small shoj 
the sale of woolen goods, 

SALAMANCA. 

Salamanca is the next fan s 
town as we near Madrid, as b u 
for so many centuries the univer- 
sity center of the Catholic faith, 
having from an early period con- 
tained a college for the special 
education of Irish students. It 
is still in existence. It is said that ^^^^^ ^^ salamanca. 

" one of the most highly-prized works in Roman Catholic divinity is the 
great collection of controversia and moral theology by the members of 
the college of Carmelite friars." The Plaza Mayor is the largest 
square in Spain, and will, upon occasion, accommodate the 16,000 
or 20,000 who pour toward it from a radius of a score of miles 
when a great bull fight is announced ; for such are the contrasts of 
Spanish life ! Salamanca was almost destroyed by the French in 
1812, and most of its splendid ancient edifices are in ruins or worked 




42 THE world's FAIR. 

into the fortifications which the invaders, when they possessed the city, 
threw up against the British. Twenty colleges and as many convents 
thus fell victims to the stern necessities of war. 

Avila, another step nearer Madrid, is a small town about fifty miles 
northwest of the capital, and although one of the many places which the 
wonder-loving Spaniards ascribe to Hercules, it is now chiefly noted as 
being the birthplace of the country's lady patroness, " Our Seraphic 
Mother, the Holy Theresa, Spouse of Jesus," born March 28, 15 15. It 
was at one time one of the richest cities of Spain. 

About the same distance from Madrid is Segovia, frequently the 
residence of the kings of Castile and Leon, where they laid their 
schemes to lower the pride of the Moorish monarchs. It is perched 
upon a rocky knoll, high above the sea level, surrounded by picturesque 
walls and round towers. Segovia's importance as a Roman city is indi- 
cated by the most stupendous Roman structure left standing in Spain — 
an aqueduct half a mile long and one hundred and two feet high. Under 
the Moors it was the seat of immense cloth manufactures, and the modern 
town reflects its old prosperity in the shape of a few small establishments 
which scour wool and manufacture woolen cloths. On a rocky promon- 
tory is one of those fortress palaces — the Alcazar — which the Moors 
seem to have planted upon every bold height of the districts in which 
they lived. The Alcazar of Segovia, long after the Moslems were driven 
out of Castile, was used by the kings of Spain as a prison, both for state 
offenders and the pirates of the Barbary states, who retained few of those 
qualities of intelligent industry which, made the Moorish dominion in 
Spain one which was not devoid of great blessings. 

THE ESCURIAL. 

Looking toward Madrid from the barren and elevated sand plateau 
which surrounds it, it is seen that the capital lies in a basin, encircled by 
plantations, gardens and boulevards. Within this band of green, almost 
startling from its contrast with the arid plains of Castile, rises the city of 
palaces, spires and domes. If you come up from the south, this pict- 
ure, set in a frame-work of green, has a background of snow-capped 
mountains ; if you come down from the north by way of Segovia, you 
can not miss that gigantic gridiron, the Escurial, which lays with upturned 
feet upon the southeastern slope of the Sierra Guadarama. St. Law- 
rence was broiled on a gridiron, and in accordance with a vow that he 
would build a monastery to his memory if he gained the battle of St. 
Ouentin, Philip built the Escurial in its present form. Many ranges of 
buildings represent its body, crossing each other at right angles, form- 



MADRID. 43 

ing- numerous courts with a tower 200 feet in height at each corner of the 
immense parallelogram. The towers are the upturned feet, and the handle 
is a wing nearly 500 feet long, containing the royal apartments, picture 
galleries and a library. The mausoleum of the kings of Spain fronts 
one side of a court, in the form of a massive church built like St. 
Peter's, its grand dome rising above the mighty altar over 300 feet. 
Under the altar is the tomb of the kings of Spain, built of jasper and 
black marble, in which their precious remains are packed away like so 
much treasure. Two-score marble chapels, marble and porphyry pillars 
on all sides — red, green, white and black — the walls incrusted with 
marble, the floors paved with it, give a rich and solemn effect to the 
interior ; while without are the massive dome and towers, the six granite 
and marble statues, called the kings of Judea, sitting in royal state upon 
the broad staircase, and the sculptured portal through which the bodies, 
of the kings of Spain are borne for baptism, and never again except as 
corpses. 

MADRID. 

There is nothing now to prevent our passing through the triumphal 
gate of the Puerta de Alcala, seventy-two feet in height, into the city 
of which the Spaniard says " See Madrid and live," but whose three 
months of winter and nine months of blasting heat have prompted for- 
eigners to hold out no inducement but speedy death to a resident. 
Four streets traverse Madrid from northeast to southwest, and one of 
them, Alcala, is pronounced the handsomest in Spain and one of the 
widest and finest in the world. The principal commercial thoroughfares 
radiate from one street, and they are more European than Spanish. But 
in the southwest district, particularly in the streets south of the Plaza 
Mayor, the wide and regular thoroughfares of modern Madrid give place 
to the crooked, dirty lanes of the ancient city. Open shops or bazaars, 
like those of Morocco, Egypt, or Turkey, line them and they are crowded 
with beggars, smugglers and gypsies. Within the square were many 
fine buildings which were repeatedly destroyed by the flames of the 
aictos da fe, although the victims were led to the stake outside the gate. 
But the danger in which the surrounding buildings stood could not have 
been small, for the water supply of the city was formerly almost confined 
to drinking purposes, and the portentous flames were continually as- 
cending to heaven. In opening new streets from the Plaza Mayor, es- 
pecially one in 1869, terrible evidences of the magnitude of these human 
bonfires were discovered. A number of strata of charcoal and cinders 
were upturned, mingled with bones and entire portions of the human 



44 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



body, and, for a time, while the excitement of the large foreign element 
of Madrid ran high over the disclosure, the beggars and gypsies and 
street arabs of the district south of the square reaped a welcome harvest 
of small coins by delving in the refuse and selling the relics of martyr- 
dom to curiosity seekers. There are other smaller squares in which crimi- 
nals and heretics were executed and in the center of one of the most dimin- 
utive is a cross Avhich marks the spot where the last heretic was burned 
in Madrid. 

The center of the modern capital is the Puerta del Sol, as we have 
intimated. Not only do the principal business streets run from this 




SPANISH WATER CARRIER. 



square, but magnificent hotels and cafes, cosy club and reading rooms, 
are centered around it, so that it is the natural point toward which re- 
sort the French, English and German business men and th'e Spanish 
pleasure seekers. Newsboys, water-carriers, honey-sellers, musicians 
with their bagpipes and guitars, and at night the private watchmen who 
lustily cry out the time and the state of the weather, make this vicinity 
a second Naples for din and good-natured bustle. Of the great palaces 
of Madrid the residence of the royal family is the most imposing. It is 
470 feet square, 100 feet high, built of granite and white marble, incloses 



MADRID. 45 

a great square, is between beautiful gardens and a magnificent plaza 
decorated with statues of kings and queens, and contains extensive 
libraries, and a royal armory wherein are the armors of Cortes. Colum- 
bus and Don John of Austria, with the crowns of Gothic kings brought 
from Toledo. 

The whole of this magnificent pile was occupied during the reign of 
the Bourbons. Queen Isabella, the mother of a subsequent king, lived 
there in especial state. She flaunted rich robes of state on which were 
the arms of Castile, her jewels were royal and her entertainments. The 
princess had palatial apartments and her husband and sister's family also 
quartered themselves in this splendid home. Their retinues, receptions 
and all, despite the family jars, were on a par with the munificence of 
the ancient sovereigns. Her successor. King Amadeus, and his modest 
wife, followed after Carlist insurrections and scandalous events. He 
seemed worthy of the position. The palatial pile was almost deserted. 
The royal pair lived in three rooms, with the children, like a sensible, 
simple couple — Queen Isabella had occupied those very apartments 
alone. The king went out like a private gentlemen, sometimes accom- 
panied by his wife or a servant. Having dined with his wife, smoked a 
cigar and tended to his affairs of state, he went into the Alcala to see 
the sights and talk to his subjects. "The ministers cried out against it ; 
the Bourbon party who were accustomed to the irnposing cortege of 
Isabella said that he dragged the majesty of the throne of San Fernando 
through the streets." At the court dinner on Sunday, to which govern- 
ment officials and scientists were invited, the queen appeared with the 
king, simply dressed, having spent much of the week at hospitals and at 
such institutions as the one she established where children were sent for 
safe-keeping whose mothers were out at work. She spoke Spanish well, 
although it was not her native tongue. She was a kind-hearted, sensible 
woman, and her husband was like his father, Victor Emanuel. But 
though as approachable as the most democratic might desire, they were 
not Spanish, and so they gave place to Isabella's son, the mother having 
fled in disgrace, and the young prince of Asturias,, Alfonso, became the 
master of the royal palace. He died in 1885, and during the next year 
his queen, Christina, gave birth to a son, who, if he lives, may be 
lord of this palace. 

South from the magnificent Alcala is the first of Madrid's numerous 
promenades, the Prado. For several miles it stretches along, between 
stately houses from whose, balconies, protected by screens or curtains, the 
famous Spanish beauties smile upon the gay throng of carriages, horse- 
men and pedestrians. Here are seen the graceful Spanish cloak and the 



46 THE world's fair. 

national veil and mantilla, although French styles are getting to be prev- 
alent among the higher classes. The northern limits of the Prado 
proper are fixed by the fountain' of Cybele, the proud mother of the gods 
being seated in a triumphal car drawn by two great marble lions. In 
the center of the boulevard is another beautiful fountain dedicated to 
Apollo, and Neptune is honored in the south. Minor fountains, gardens 
and pieces of statuary are scattered along the way, and the beauties of 
this enticing drive and walk are prolonged, both north and south, into 
the charming suburbs of the city. 

It is in the way of this constant stream of beauty, fashion and cult- 
ure that the royal museum lays, in which is treasured, according to 
artistic authorities, a collection of paintings "not only the greatest in the 
world, but the greatest that can ever be made until this is broken up." 
The gallery comprises works of Murillo, Velasquez, Raphael, Rubens, 
Teniers and Titian, Murillo's " Martyrdom of St. Andrew," the instru- 
ment of whose death shaped the great Escurial, is here, and the most 
wonderful works of Velasquez enable the artist to study the master 
here as nowhere else, Madrid was the scene of his greatest triumphs. 
Here the king himself so appreciated his genius as to become his inti- 
mate and to confer upon him the Cross of Santiago, an honor never 
before accorded to any but the highest of the nobility. 

AMUSEMENTS OF THE NATIVE. 

Just outside the Alcala is the bull ring, built upon the site of an 
ancient one. No great Spanish town would be complete without it. 
The bull ring is a great open amphitheatre, which was inherited from the 
Romans, The huge animals which furnish the blood and the sport of 
the occasion, mostly come from the Sierra Morena mountains of Anda- 
lusia ; the very name, " Andalusian bull," sounds like a great body pro- 
pelling itself forward with mighty force. The participants in the fight 
at first are usually unmounted, and show proverbial agility in avoiding 
the rushes of the infuriated monster. But this sport is merely to whet 
the appetite of the gay crowd for the more exciting contest, in which 
the mounted picadors also participate. Having partially exhausted his 
strength in vain charges at his glittering, nimble foes, the bull is now 
confronted with mounted spearmen as well. As his strength fails, more 
and more, if he has not yet maimed a man or disemboweled a horse, it 
is needful to import a new company of tormenters to thrust him with 
darts. When the beast refuses the contest the matador gives him the 
death-blow with his short sword. Trumpets sound, flowers are showered 



AMUSEMENTS OF THE NATIVE. 



47 



into the arena by excited ladies, and the matter-of-fact, unromantic 
mules are driven in to drag away the dead bodies of bull and horses. 

The king had his private box, as of old. Even Amadeus, his prede- 
cessor, of the simple, homely manners, patronized the exhibition, although 
his tender-hearted queen, not hardened yet to the sights, stayed away. If 
the " torero" is fortunate enough to have given the bull his death wound 
in a skillful manner, the thousands of spectators, as he makes the round 
of the arena, almost bury him beneath piles of cigars, purses, hats, canes 
— anything which comes to hand — while the ladies shower him with 
praises, not to say loving words. The king himself rewards the bloody 
hero with a purse of money, and the same performance is repeated as 
long as the festival of the bull fights lasts. 

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BULL FIGHTERS. 



ize them ; but there are regular theatres where the cruel sport may be 
witnessed, and the excitement there evinced, if not so grand in its quality 
and quantity as shown at the bull amphitheatre, is fully as intense. The 
conflict of the birds usually takes place in the daytime, so that among the 
various spectators the principal actors in the bull arena often appear 
dressed in their red sashes and. gaudy clothes. The theatre itself is 
bright with color — the circular tiers of chairs are often red and flowers are 
painted on the walls. The pit is a circular box in the centre of the hall, 
surrounded by a high wire screen. But why describe a cock-fight ! It is 
more brutal, if anything, though not so destructive of life as the other 



48 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

sport; for a true Spanish fight must end in the death of one or the 
other of the combatants, and if the birds are game the conclusion of 
the conflict sees one or both of them simply bunches of feathers, blood 
and bones, with the flesh stripped from the skeleton and the eyes out. 
Ladies and the higher classes, who would eagerly grace a bull fight, do 
not attend such small exhibitions of bloodshed. It is only where horses, 
bulls and men shed their blood that they care to go. 

Madrid contains nearly a hundred public squares, large and small, 
and a vast number of churches, but having no cathedral, strictly speak- 
ing, it ranks in Spain merely as a town within the bishopric of Toledo. 
Under the Moors it was a mere fortified outpost of Toledo, and the 
Royal Palace stands upon the site of the ancient Alcazar, or fortress. 
When it was stormed and captured by Alfonso of Castile, the castle and 
town were called Majerit. As we have stated he made Toledo his capital 
and Madrid did not come into real prominence until Philip II. declared 
it to be " the only court," the royal residence having been shifting 
around from place to place ever since Ferdinand's time. So that the 
founding of Madrid dates from about the middle of the sixteenth century. 
It has been a city of memorable treaties and insurrections, the most seri- 
ous uprising being that against Murat and the French in 1808. An 
imposing group of edifices now occupies the site of an old church, which 
stood east of the great square of Puerta del Sol, the scene of the blood- 
iest conflict between the French and the citizens, while In a park of the 
Prado called " t\ie field of loyalty" is a memorial shaft, surrounded 
by mourning cypresses. 

CUBA AND COLUMBUS' TOMB. 

Spain still retains the Cuba that Columbus discovered, and it Is the 
most important of her colonial possessions. The population which the 
Spaniards found has disappeared, with the exception of a few families 
around Santiago, and the people are now a conglomeration of blacks, 
Creoles and " peninsulares," or natives of Spain. Most of the latter class, 
or Cuban Spaniards, originally came from Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, 
Castile and other districts of Northern and Northeastern Spain, being 
traders and mechanics, and so sturdy and energetic that they not only 
obtained control of the wealth, but the government of the island. 
" For a time after the conquest in 151 1 none but CastiHans were allowed 
to settle in Cuba ; but after the prohibition was removed, colonists from 
all the provinces, and even from the Canary Islands, came thither. The 
Biscayans hire out as mechanics ; the Catalans, who are numeious. 



CUBA AND COLUMBUS TOMB. 



49 



devote themselves to hard labor; the Asturians, Castilians and Anda- 
lusians occupy clerkships and the learned professions." The aborigines 
of the West Indies have disappeared, or been driven along the pathway 
of the Antilles to South America, leaving many strange relics behind 
them which will be properly placed at the Columbian Exposition. 

The metropolitan center of Cuba's best life is Havana, through 
which flows so hrge a revenue to needy Spain. The city is almost as 
well known as New York, 
having about half the popu- 
lation of Madrid, and pre- 
senting, besides its immense 
commercial activity, one of 
the finest opera houses in 
existence. 

The most noteworthy 
church is the large Jesuit 
Cathedral, plain without but 
richly frescoed within, its 
floor and portions of its al- 
tars being constructed of 
beautiful variegated marble. 
In the wall of the chancel 
an inscribed medallion indi- 
cates that below is the tomb 
of Columbus. 

Until 1877 it was sup- 
posed that the remains of 
Columbus undoubtedly rest- 
ed beneath the rich marble 
floor of the Havana Cathe- 
dral. From Spain they were 
carried to San Domingo, 
and when, in 1795, Hispan- 

iola was transferred to France, the supposed dust of the illustrious 
man was borne to Havana. Washington Irving thus describes the im- 
pressive ceremonies attending the historic event: "On the 20th of 
December, 1795, the most distinguished persons of the place (San 
Domingo), the dignitaries of the church, the civil and military officers, 
assembled in the metropolitan cathedral. In the presence of this august 
assemblage, a small vault was opened above the chancel, in the principal 




TOMB OF COLUMBUS AT HAVANA. 



50 THE WORLD S FAIR, 

wall on the right side of the high altar. Within were found the frag- 
ments of a leaden coffin, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould, 
evidently the remains of a human body. These were carefully collected 
and put into a case of gilded lead, about half an ell in length and 
breadth, and a third in height, secured by an iron lock, the key of which 
was delivered to the archbishop. The case was inclosed in a coffin 
covered with black velvet, and ornamented with lace and fringe of gold. 
The whole was then placed in a temporary tomb or mausoleum. 

"On the following day there was another grand convocation at the 
cathedral, when the vigils and masses for the dead were solemnly 
chanted by the archbishop, accompanied by the commandant-general of 
the Armada, the Dominican and Franciscan friars of the Order of Mercy, 
together with the rest of the distinguished assemblage. After this a 
funeral sermon was preached by the archbishop. 

"On the same day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the coffin was 
transported to the ship with the utmost state and ceremony, with a civil, 
religious and military procession, banners wrapped in mourning, chants, 
and responses, and discharges of artillery. The most distinguished 
persons of the several orders took turn to support the coffin. The key 
was taken with great formality from the hands of the archbishop by the 
governor, and given into the hands of the commander of the Armada, 
to be delivered by him to the governor of Havana, to be held in deposit 
until the pleasure of the king should be known. The coffin was received 
on board of a brigantine called the Discoverer, which, with all the other 
shipping, displayed mourning signals, and saluted the remains with the 
honors paid to an admiral. 

"From the port of St. Domingo the coffin was conveyed to the bay 
of Ocoa, and there transferred to the ship San Lorenzo. It was accom- 
panied by a portrait of Columbus, sent from Spain by the Duke of 
Veraguas, to be suspended close by the place where the remains of his 
illustrious ancestor should be deposited." 

Upon the arrival of the ship at Havana, the ceremonies of receiving 
the remains were alike impressive, and the leaden coffin was deposited, 
with great reverence, in the wall on the right side of the grand altar. It 
was thus intended that the tomb of Columbus should have the place of 
honor in the cathedral of Havana, as in the cathedral of San Domingo. 

Now comes the sequel, and the uncertainty as to whether the 
remains which were brought to Havana, with all this pomp and cere- 
mony, were really those of Columbus. In 1877, while making some 
changes about the chancel of the San Domingo cathedral, the authorities 



THE PORTUGUESE AND PRINCE HENRY. 5 1 

discovered an occupied vault on either side of it, as well as one which 
was empty. An inscription upon one of the leaden coffins indicated that 
the bones within were those of Luis, the grandson of Columbus. 
Various letters and inscriptions were found upon the other, which have 
been thus deciphered: "Discoverer of America, First Admiral;" 
"Illustrious and Renowned Man, Christopher Columbus;" "A part of 
the remains of the First Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus, 
Discoverer." 

Since the alleged discovery of the remains of Columbus in San 
Domingo, high authorities have charged that the word America could 
not have been used at the time of the Admiral's burial ; that the inscrip- 
tions have been tampered with; that the casket at San Domingo con- 
tains the remains of Christopher Columbus, the grandson of the famous 
man, and that the whole affair is an attempt to impose a fraud upon 
the world. But wherever the dust of Christopher Columbus rests, his 
fame is secure. 

THE PORTUGUESE AND PRINCE HENRY. 

First, now, as to the people. The Portuguese, as a race, rest more 
upon their language than their personal appearance. In the south they 
are dark, tall and lithe, almost Arabs in their general features, while in 
the north they greatly resemble the natives of extreme Northwestern 
Spain, who have a greater proportion of primitive blood than those of 
the south. The Portuguese tongue, on the other hand, has found 
eulogists among all nationalities, having been variously described as a 
language of flowers, the eldest daughter of the Latin, and the soft and 
voluptuous dialect. What few harsh and guttural sounds are heard, it 
inherits from the Arabic which, while the Moors were in power, was 
spoken throughout the country. The Portuguese language is a most 
admirable aid to the courteous and insinuative manners of the higher 
classes of the country. These, in fact, are more pleasing in their address 
than those in the same plane of Spanish society, while the lower classes 
are more ignorant and degraded. But whatever else may be said of 
him, the Portuguese is brave, patriotic, hospitable and cheerful, and hates 
the Spaniard, and especially the Castilian, for his attempt to subjugate 
him completely; and yet, speaking in general terms, the Portuguese is 
but a Spaniard with a softer tongue and a harder body. 

The Portuguese, of Portugal, either as an agricultural or a com- 
mercial race, show little of that spirit of revival which is seen in so 



52 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

many parts of Spain. Since the French threatened to swallow them 
during the Peninsular War they have transferred their best energies to 
Brazil. 

Before the birth of Columbus, Prince Henry of Portugal was one of 
the grandest soldiers of Europe. He particularly distinguished himself 
in the wars against the African Moors, and was offered the command of 
armies, not only by home rulers, but by foreign monarchs. Prince 
Henry was of superb -physique, and first in the kingdom in all manly 
exercises; and he was a scholar — a deep mathematician, an astronomer, 
and a geographer. In fact, his intense love of science and discovery 
overcame all his other ambitions. By his campaigns in Africa he had 
acquired some knowledge of the western coast of that continent, learning 
also of its extension far southward. Withdrawing from court, and 
resolutely refusing all offers of military advancement, he established 
himself upon the rocky promontory which juts out from Southwestern 
Portugal, at Sagres, near Cape St. Vincent. Here he built the first 
observatory in Portugal, drew around him some of the most noted 
cosmographers of Europe, and putting his bold heart into the timid 
breasts of the Portuguese, made them the most distinguished nav- 
igators in the world. Expedition after expedition was dispatched by 
him in this search for the southern passage to the Indies, so that before 
he died, in 1463, every cape of the coast beyond which the seamen of 
his day insisted that no ship could pass had been rounded, and that 
zone of fire had been entered nearly to the equator which the authorities 
of that time averred was the zone of death. 

Prince Henry gave the impetus to Portuguese discovery, which, 
twenty-four years after his death, brought the first known European ship 
around the Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese were now upon 
every sea, and Lisbon was the center of nearly every grand enterprise. 
It was therefore quite fortunate that a few years after the noble prince's 
death, the ship-wrecked sailor, Columbus, should be cast upon the 
shores of Portugal near the famous observatory, in the vicinity of Cape 
St. Vincent, and that he should wander to the stirring city of Lisbon. 
The sturdy, inquiring mariner married a daughter of one of Prince 
Henry's most trustworthy captains. 

Prince Henry was a worthy predecessor and inspirer of Columbus, 
and among the works of art which Americans should honor are the 
statue of the lofty-souled Portuguese, which may be seen over a gate of 
the Church of Belem, Lisbon, and the monument to his memory, which 
stands in the town of Saeres. 



THE ITALIANS. 



HIS people is a family of the great Graeco-Roman group, 
which comprises the natives of Greece, Italy, France and Spain. 
The Latin branch, or tribe of the Italian race, early attained 
the sovereignty over its own kindred, over the Gauls in the 
north, the Greeks in the south and the aborigines (Etruscans 
and lapygians) in the east and extreme southeast. On the 
Palatine Hill, probably as a frontier defense against the Etrus- 
cans, commenced to rise the first crude buildings which were 
to form the nucleus of the great City of the Seven Hills and 
the mightiest empire of the ancient times. When this infant 
Rome was finished, it is said to have consisted of about a thousand 
dwellings, irregularly arranged. Strangers were invited to the new 
settlement, and the next we hear of it, it is the city of the Latin 
confederacy, or of Latium, where the Senate meets and metropolitan 
life is at its best. 

MODERN ROME. 




After some twenty-six hundred years we find a city inclosed by some 
twelve miles of walls, one-third of which area only is inhabited. One- 
half is strewn with ancient ruins, and the balance is laid out in gardens 
or vineyards. The city occupies a marsh on each side of the Tiber and 
the slopes of the seven hills, the greater portion of Rome being on the 
left bank. 

CAPITOLINE HILL. 



The center of Interest is the Capitoline Hill, the smallest but most 
famous of the group. On the summit of this rocky mountain were built 
three magnificent capitols, which were destroyed by fire, the modern 
structure being erected partly on the foundation of the ancient tem.ple. 
From the Capitoline Hill, or that portion of it called the Tarpeian Rock, 
state criminals were thrown. The remains of the ancient capitol, in whose 
spacious portico the people feasted when their Emperor returned to 
celebrate a triumph, are confined to a small section of the superstructure 

S3 



54 THE world's fair. 

and wall, and a portion of the great flight of steps leading to the temple. 
Besides the capitol,or the great Temple of Jupiter, were the Temple of 
Jupiter Tonans and the magnificent Tabularium, wherein were stored 
the public records of the empire, which contained its treasury and served 
as a library and lecture building. The remains of the latter structure 
still have an imposing appearance. 

From the south of the capitol to the city walls are cultivated land, 
beautiful gardens and vineyards. From the great northern entrance of 
Rome to the foot of the hill runs the Corso, a street about a mile long, 
passing through the site of the ancient Campus Martius, an open space 
of many acres, where the ancient Romans were wont to assemble and 
indulge in games and other amusements ; this is now the most densely 
populated portion of Rome and given up to trade. On each side of the 
Corso are palaces and churches, while to the right, about half way up, 
branches off a noble street leading to the immense Jesuit convent and 
church. 

THE PANTHEON. 

The strip between the Corso and the Tiber, is densely populated by 
the smaller classes of traders, the poor and the beggars of Rome ; 
market places and shops are there galore. In this quarter, however, 
stands the Pantheon, one of the grandest remains of all Rome's great- 
ness. It is also the best preserved. Standing near the center of the 
ancient Campus, and erected nineteen centuries ago as a temple to all 
the heathen gods, it was consecrated twelve centuries ago as a Christian 
church, under the name of Sancta Maria ad Martyres. But the name 
of Pantheon yet clings to it, and the huge rotunda with its lofty dome 
rises above the surrounding squalor in all the impressiveness of Roman 
architecture. Its portico, over a hundred feet in length, with triple rows 
of mighty granite columns, the capitals and bases of which are marble, 
is one of the most remarkable productions of artistic genius to be seen 
in Rome. Much of the bronze roof, which these pillars support, has 
been removed by various Popes to be used in the interior decoration of 
the Vatican, as have also many fine marbles from the body of the Pan- 
theon. But the monument stands in its general features of gran- 
deur. Once within, you seem to stand beneath a miniature heavenly 
vault, your illusion being only dispelled when, upon glancing upward, you 
see the floods of light pouring through a large opening in the dome and 
scattering itself, as if by magic, to every altar and niche of the interior. 
Originally, the exterior of the dome was covered with plates of silver, 
but these were removed and bronze ones substituted. A modern copy 



THE VATICAN AND ST. PETERS, 55 

of the Pantheon is the world-famed St. Peter's, and thus there is a double 
bond of union between the ancient and modern religion of Rome. 

THE VATICAN AND ST. PETER'S. 

The Upper Town, so called, lies on the slope of the Pincian and 
Ouirinal Hills, consisting of palaces, villas, churches and convents, gar- 
dens and beautiful walks. In this locality were the favorite promenades 
of the Romans. On the summit of the Ouirinal is the famous pontifi- 
cal palace and garden. From it is obtained a striking view of the castle 
of St. Angelo, with its great circular tower, mounted with cannon and 
protected with ramparts and ditches. It commands the bridge which 
forms the principal means of communication between the two portions 
of the c.'ty. St. Angelo looms up like a ponderous warrior guarding 
the approach to the Vatican, consisting of the palace and the basilica 
of St. Peter's. This wonderful creation of architectural genius and 
religious fervor can not be described in a few, or many, words. St. 
Peter's must be seen and felt — the approach through the great circular 
court, its palatial front and mighty dome, the grand central nave, with 
its gorgeous ornaments and many statues, and its chapels, tombs and 
altars ! Then passing from the right to the Piazza of St. Peter's, up the 
wonderful staircase called Scala Regia we turn to the left and enter the 
Sistine chapel of Michael Angelo, for it is next to impossible not to 
associate him with it in the sense of ownership. His genius looks down 
from the ceiling in The Creation, The Fall of Man and The Deluge, 
while The Last Judgment, pronounced by some the greatest of all 
paintings, has drawn the eyes of the world to the end wall, which is a 
little more than forty feet across. " Upon this work Michael Angelo 
spent seven years of almost incessant labor and study. To animate him 
in the task Pope Paul III., attended by ten cardinals, waited upon 
the artist at his house, an honor," says Lanzi, who records the fact, 
" unparalleled in the history of art." 

PETER'S PRISON. 

The old Mamertine prison, whose walls are built of such enormous 
stones as to prove the structure a relic of Rome's ancient monarchs, is 
supposed to be the gloomy work of Martius, or Mamertius, the fourth 
king of the city who flourished 600 B. C. There is a Catholic legend to 
the effect that St. Peter or St. Paul was confined in one of its damp cells, 
and, having converted the jailer, a spring of water bubbled from the 
stone floor to enable him to baptize him. Beneath the floor is a dungeon 



56 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

which has been found to be of great size and in which the conspirators 
of Catahne were strangled to death. 

THE LIFE OE TO-DAY. 

The Vatican is divided from the Trastevere, or the portion of the 
city on this side of the Tiber which is not within the province of the 
Church, by an inner wall. This district is bounded by the river and a 




STREET SCENE IN ROME. 



ridge which rises 300 feet above it. Along the northern half of the 
heights is carried a broad street which is a favorite promenade of the 
Roman youth ; and the largest fountain of Rome graces a commanding 
site, its torrents of water seeming, from a distance, to rush through three 
mighty arches. Many other fountains beautify the modern city. Col- 
lected in these refreshing localities may occasionally be seen the beau- 



THE CATACOMBS. 57 

tiful Roman maidens of the artist, dancing and singing "for a bit," or 
seated about in careless grace. In the squares also where the fountains 
play and to which the tired curiosity seeker instinctively repairs to bring 
before his eyes something besides ruins, the Roman beggar is at his best — 
there and at the doors of the great churches. But even the plague of 
mendicancy is being somewhat alleviated through government efforts, 
and it may be that these characters which have made Rome noted will 
disappear as effectually as the old-fashioned, mild and romantic Roman 
peasant. 

Something, or somebody, to satisfy artistic cravings, however, may 
be found in the dreary Campagna, that great pestilential tract which sur- 
rounds the city and includes the greater portion of ancient Latium. The 
ground is low and often flooded from the Tiber. The small lakes are 
formed by craters of extinct volcanoes. Wars, pestilences (especially 
the Black Death in the fourteenth century) and the overflow of the 
Tiber may account for the present unhealthfulness of the Campagna, 
which according to Livy always had that reputation in some degree, al- 
though it once was well cultivated and adorned with such villas as those 
of Domitian and Hadrian. 

The Campagna is deserted except by the poorer classes of peasants 
and shepherds, and in summer, when the most dangerous vapors arise, 
they, too, flee to Rome or neighboring localities. But in autu-mn the 
pasturage is in many places rich and abundant, and then the herdsmen 
and shepherds descend from the Apennine mountains with their cattle, 
goats and sheep. They are the figures for the artist's pencil — shep- 
herds with broad-brimmed hats, great cloaks, their feet swathed in rags, 
their hair and beard long and profuse. 

THE CATACOMBS. 

As the shepherd of the Campagna pipes along over the morasses 
and fields of sward to his pasture grounds, with his dogs and flocks, he 
is quice likely to be walking over whole streets of the dead. The cata- 
combs of Rome, those subterranean vaults which line the dark passage- 
ways for many dreary miles, are outside the city walls and approached 
by stone steps, which descend to openings in the rock from the famous 
Appian Way. Within these labyrinths, whose rocky walls are so many 
sealed tombs and which occasionally expand into wide and lofty cham- 
bers, are deposited the bodies of countless Christians of the primitive 
church — bishops and laymen, but martyrs almost invariably, as the inscrip- 
tions upon the tombs eloquently and pathetically testify. These impos- 
ing chambers were, no doubt, churches. In the repeated wars which 



58 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Rome suffered many of the catacombs were destroyed, and to circum- 
vent future ravages the Popes caused thousands of bodies of the illustrious 
dead to be removed to places of safety. It is possible that from this city 
of the dead, whose inhabitants have been reckoned by the millions and 
the length of whose streets is hundreds of miles, although its pollution has 
been sealed from those who pass along its rocky ways, may still arise influ- 
ences which have their effect upon the marshy, steaming Campagna above. 

THE COLOSSEUM AND THE FORUM. 

But we now return to the Capitoline Hill, having crossed the river to 
explore the Vatican and the freshest district of modern Rome. By a steep 
descent from the hill we reach the Colosseum in what is now known as 
the Campo Vaccino, or cattle market, thus indicating the purpose to 
which the great Roman Forum has for centuries been devoted. In 
ancient times, also, the markets formed an important feature of the Forum, 
a great portion of which was devoted to the assemblies of the people. 
Here were hung up for the benefit of the public the laws of the Twelve 
Tables, and afterward the calendars of the courts, written upon white 
tables, that the citizens might be informed as to legal proceedings. One 
portion of the Forum was, in fact, devoted to trade and the other a public 
assembly ground and the scene of banquets and gladiatorial sports, the 
two being divided by the platforms from which the Roman orators 
addressed the citizens. After Caesar's time the Roman Forum lost its 
political and popular character, and with the erection of the Colosseum 
it became almost entirely the center of those cruelties called sports. 
Triumphal arches were also erected by the Emperors, such as those of 
Constantine and Titus, and splendid monuments and temples, some of 
which still stand. On the east and south the Forum was bounded by the 
Sacra Via, upon the highest point of which stood Titus' arch, and which 
connected the Colosseum with the other wonders of the Forum. 

It was the original intention of Augustus to build a great amphi- 
theatre in the center of Rome, and Vespasian and his son Titus realized 
the former's bright hopes with the help of the vast number of Jewish 
workmen which he brought as captives from Jerusalem. The site selected 
was in a hollow between two hills which Nero had caused to be made 
for an artificial lake. The great structure, which was 615 x 510 feet, was 
in four stories and in three different styles of architecture. It was dedi- 
cated by Titus 80 A. D., with a brilliant programme of games and gladia- 
torial shows, numbers of men and thousands of wild beasts being killed 
to satisfy the 80,000 spectators who are supposed to have been present. 
Later this was the arena where many of the early Christians suffered 



THE ITALIAN PEASANT. 59 

martyrdom. Otherwise the Colosseum has few historical associations. 
It is supposed to have remained entire until the eleventh century, when 
Rome was sacked by the Normans and the Colosseum partially demolished 
to destroy its utility as a fortress. In the fourteenth century it was a 
favorite arena for bull-fights and it afterward became a hospital. Its 
walls were used as building material for Roman palaces and attempts 
were made to transform it into a bazaar and a saltpetre factory. Then a 
cross was planted in the center of the still grand ruin, with small chapels 
around the walls, and once every week it was customary to hold exercises 
in memory of the saints and unknown martyrs who suffered for their 
faith. Subsequently these were removed and the excavations which 
followed revealed a multitude of chambers and passages whose uses are 
unknown. 

From a point beyond the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the 
ruined Palace of the Caesars, and beyond the present city walls, but 
which was once not far removed ffom the very center of Rome, stands a 
long procession of fragmentary aqueducts. The most noted of these 
are the aqueducts of Marcia and Claudia. The water supply of modern 
Rome is along much the same course; in fact, the works of Marcia and 
Claudia have been partially utilized. 

THE ITALIAN PEASANT. 

The Italian is not a peasant from choice and no Italian who is 
wealthy enough to own a farm would think of occupying it. The owner 
graces his property long enough to collect his crop moneys, leaving it 
the rest of the year in charge of hired laborers, who . are crowded 
together in little villages. Here and there throughout the country are 
great tracts of land, upon which are masses of buildings, surrounded by 
high walls and deep moats, mementos of the days when hordes of bar- 
barians might sweep down from the North at any moment, burn the vine- 
yards and destroy the grain ; the bandits came later to terrify the life of 
the prosperous farmer and make it more agreeable for him to live in 
town with his wife and family. 

Much in the same way the country population have got into the 
habit of emigrating to the cities and towns. They usually have acquired 
trades such as those of masons, carpenters or house painters, and from 
their busy hands came many of the superb structures which grace both 
the ancient and modern cities of Italy. Many of them gather not only 
competencies, but fortunes. Yearly they return to their beloved fields 
and valleys to spend their idle months, and finally, perhaps, to live. A 
case in point "is that of a gentleman of Piedmont who became chief 



60 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

director of the great tunnel, on the Apennines, above Genoa, at the 
time of the construction of the railway there. At length he retired to 
his country home, and employed several hundred villagers to transform 
his hut into a palace and his bare rocks into a park. Other young men, 
especially of the Northern districts, turned up their noses at the plow 
and sought their fortunes in Austria and Germany ; so that, as an 
observer of this feature of peasant life once remarked, "in Italy are to 
be found boors who for half the year are, at Vienna, bankers,barons and 
even counts, of the Holy Roman Empire." 

Those whom circumstances force to stay at home and till the soil 
are apt to ape metropolitan ways. They are social by nature, and would 
rather live huddled in a squalid hamlet than out in the country where 
each man may have his own vineyard and plenty of pure air and fresh 
water. "In their dingy provincial towns they huddle together, land 
owners, farmers and most of the laborers ; and every town gives itself the 
airs and revels in the light gossip of the capital ; every town has a cafe, 
or a score of cafes in which to idle away time, all with their tawdry, 
smoky, gilt and mirrored rooms." 

It is a common plan in Italy for the land owner and his laborers to 
share the profits in kind, the proportion varying with the fertility of the 
land. The peasant furnishes the implements of husbandry and half of 
the laboring cattle. If he is so poor that the land owner must support 
him while he tills, his position becomes most unenviable. 

VESPUCIUS' CITY. 

The most perfect picture of the City of Flowers is obtained from 
Fiesole, the site of the ancient market-place or town which was the 
parent of the stately Florence. Upon these heights, overlooking the 
city, the elder Cosmo built him a villa and laid out beautiful gar- 
dens, to which resorted the stately and royal Lorenzo to muse, to 
plan, to plot, to suffer and to repent. From this point Florence, her 
populous suburbs and outlying villas, vineyards and gardens, appear to 
be one vast city, her majestic form, garlanded with flowers and wreaths 
of green, lying prone upon the ground and shaded by a circle of gently 
sloping hills. The Arno is her yellow girdle. It was in Lorenzo's 
neighboring villa at.Careggi that the interview with Savonarola is said 
to have taken place. 

And now we turn from one of the world's most magnificent prin- 
ces and priests to one of her most magnificent geniuses. 

The villas in which Galileo resided are more famous, in this age of 
the world, than any which were glorified by the magnificence of Lorenzo. 



VESPUCIUS' CITY. 6 I 

His own villa, the one to which he repaired to pass the last dark years 
of his harassed life, is situated beyond the hill Arcetri. "It is an ivy- 
draped, gloomy, desolate-looking abode." His observatory, a rude 
tower, is not far away. The father of astronomy passed his younger, 
hopeful days at the villa of the historian, Guicardini, perched upon a 
beautiful height called Bellosquardo. Near the northern entrance of the 
quaint old building is a bust of Galileo with a tablet chronicling his 
residence of fourteen years within its walls. The grounds are laid out 
in pretty gardens, the present owner retaining a remembrance, no doubt, 
of the fact that its former illustrious guest was a passionate lover of 
flowers. From the roof of the villa, the center of which is railed off and 
furnished with sofas, tables, chairs, etc., may be obtained another glori- 
ous panorama of Florence and its historical buildings and spots, and the 
beauties of the surrounding country. 

"There is the vine and olive-clad valley of the Arno ; the Cascine, 
the favorite promenade or drive, the Hyde Park of Florence ; the Poggio 
Imperiale, and, leading to it, that 

"' abrupt, black line of cypresses 

Which signs the way to Florence.' " 

There is no other city in Italy whose architecture is of so gloomy and 
massive a nature ; and to the solidity of her structures is due the fact that 
they are now in such an interesting state of preservation, having with- 
stood the sieges and attacks of contending parties for centuries. 

First among the glorious monuments to Florentine genius is the 
Cathedral, the greatest wonder of which is its grand cupola, planned and 
erected by Brunelleschi. This was taken by Michael Angelo as his 
model for St. Peters, the two, with the campanile near the cathedral of 
Florence, forming perhaps the most wonderful combinations of grandeur 
and grace among all the noted structures of ecclesiastical architecture. 
The cathedral, baptistry and bell tower are covered with a mosaic of 
black and white marble. The baptistry is an octagon in form, support- 
ing a cupola and lantern and guarded by three great gates of bronze, 
the two by Ghiberti being called by Michael Angelo the Gates of Para- 
dise. 

The cathedral, campanile and baptistry look upon the Piazza del 
Duomo and on one of the stone benches which faces their magnificence 
was wont to sit a man of classic features, large-eyed and majestic — 
Dante., the poet, reformer, afterward the exile, and, with Michael Angelo, 
the most revered of the many geniuses of Florence and Italy. 

Dante died at Ravenna, just beyond the Maritime Alps and the 
boundaries of the republic which exiled him. His bones have been 



62 THE world's FAIR. 

Stolen several times, once to keep them from a cardinal of the Church, who 
wished to burn them as those of a heretic, and again by certain ones who 
would not have the precious remains removed to Florence, which has 
made repeated efforts to honor the poet in death. Finally, 500 years 
after his decease, a great cenotaph was built in Santa Croce, but the 
little dome-like shrine in the Ravenna chapel still treasures the remains. 
From 1677 to 1865 Dante's bones remained hidden in a rough wooden 
box which was found deposited in the walls of the chapel while the 
building was being repaired in anticipation of the celebration of the 
600th anniversary of his birth. The day was observed with great mag- 
nificence in Florence, a statue of Dante being unveiled in the Piazza 
Santa Croce. Among modern Italians of note there assembled were 
Ristori, Salvini and Rossi. 

Grouped around the cathedral are other religious edifices which 
elsewhere would appear of almost unrivaled grandeur, that of Santa 
Croce, being known as the Pkntheon of Florence, containing monuments 
to Galileo, Dante, Machiavelli, Michael Angelo and Alfieri. The Church 
of San Lorenzo was rebuilt from an ancient one consecrated by St. 
Ambrose. The architect was Brunelleschi. Within this grand casing 
is a memorial monument to Cosmo, with the popular title inscribed upon 
it of Pater Patrick. Lorenzo de Medici is honored, monumentally, in 
the New Sacristry, his statue being a model of manly beauty. The 
Medicean chapel, gorgeous with the rarest marbles and most costly 
stones, stands behind the choir and contains the tombs of the Medici 
and those of the grand dukes, their successors. The Laurentian library, 
founded by a Medici, adjoins the church. 

POLITICS AND RELIGION. 

The Palazzo Vecchio, so long the seat of the Republican govern- 
ment, is an imposing pile, surmounted by a tower 260 feet high, whose 
great bell used to warn the citizens of danger and call them to arms. 
The adjoining square contains magnificent groups of statuary. Michael 
Angelo's great fame rests in St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel, but in 
the judgment of some his statue of David Confronting the Philistine, 
standing in the square which fronts the Palazzo Vecchio, is his greatest 
work as a sculptor. 

In this square, also — the Piazza della Signoria — were laid the scenes 
of Savonarola's triumph and death. As an offset to the scandalous 
public amusements which were encouraged by the Medici and their party, 
under his direction a pyramid of carnival dresses, obscene pictures and 



POLITICS AND RELIGION. 



63 



portraits, cards, dice, gaming boards, etc., was formed in the square. The 
interior of the pyramid was filled with combustible miaterials and on the 
top was a monstrous image representing the carnival. A great proces- 
sion of citizens, monks and children, bearing red crosses and olive 




THE FATES," BY MICHAEL ANGELO. 



branches, marched to the " pile of vanities," the little ones sung, the 
great bell of the Palazzo tolled, the multitude shouted and the pyramid 
went up in great clouds of smoke and sheets of flame. The same square 



64 



THE WORLDS FAIR. 



witnessed his martyrdom, with two of his fellow monks, and there also 
his enemies saw him narrowly escape the " ordeal by fire " which was to 
prove him a child of God or of Satan. 

" The convent of San Marco, in which Savonarola lived during his 
protracted conflict with Rome, stands almost unchanged from his day. 
The walls are covered with exquisite frescoes by Fra Angelica, an artist 
of so devout a spirit that he is said always to have painted on his knees. 
In the cell occupied by Savonarola are shown his Bible, the margin 
filled with annotations in his own hand, and a volume of his sermons." 

PALACES AND GARDENS. 



Next to the Palazzo Vecchio is a great palace founded by Cosmo I., 
in the first floor of which are deposited the public archives and a library 

of 150,000 volumes and 12,000 MSS. 
The famous Florentine gallery of paint- 
ings, engravings, sculptures, mosaics, 
etc., occupies the second floor. The 
Pitti Palace, fronting upon a charming 
park containing marble fountains, green 
gardens and stately drives, is the mod- 
ern residence of the Grand Duke, and, 
while Florence was the capital of Italy, 
the home of the King. This is the un- 
finished monument commenced by 
Brunelleschi to perpetuate the greatness 
of the family which fell before the power 
of the Medici. 

Behind the palace are the Boboli 
gardens, with their solid avenues of 
trees and hedges, waterfalls, grottos, 
flowers and statues. " The city is seen 
through a line of solemn cypresses 
which stand out against the dazzling 
walls and towers beyond." 

The Strozzi palace is a noteworthy 
type of Tuscan architecture — but the 
list is too great to exhaust in detail. 
Besides famous palaces, villas and churches, Florence reveals the fact 
that she lives in the active present; for hospitals, lunatic asylums, 
theatres, academies, museums, colleges of medicine and agriculture, 




DESIGN FOR AN ORNAMENT. 



PALACES AND GARDENS. 



65 



etc., etc., are not only flourishing but growing in number. The Floren- 
tines are to-day witty and eloquent, shrewd and industrious, educated, and 
stable lovers of good government and inclined to reform. 

Among the geniuses of Florence must be placed Benvenuto Cel- 
lini, who was intended for a musician, but chose hifnself to become one 
of the most eminent engravers of his day, if not of any age. He was 
stamped both as a genius and an incorrigible youth before he was 
sixteen years of age, and was banished from his native town for having 




PLACQUE BY CELLINI. 

taken part in a duel. He entered the service of the Pope, having 
pleased him with the die which he made, from which that magnate's gold 
medal was struck, and helped defend the castle of San Angelo against 
the imperial troops. Having become noted both as a soldier and an 
engraver, he was received back into the good graces of the Florentines, 
continued to increase his reputation as an artist and a quarrelsome fel- 
low, fled from the city, returned to Rome, got into more trouble, went 



66 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



to France, appeared again in his native town, secured as a patron Cosmo 
de Medici, executed his " Perseus with the head of Medusa," and his 
"Christ," and established his fame for all time. The best part of his 
smaller artistic works are his productions in metals, the embossed decor- 
ations of shields, cups, salvers, ornamented sword and dagger hilts, clasps, 
medals and coins. 

HISTORIC BRIDGES. 

The bridges which span the Arno are picturesque and historical. 
Farthest to the east is the Ponte alle Grazie, there being a chapel at its 
foot dedicated to Santa Maria delle Grazie. It was here that Pope 
Gregory X., from his temporary wooden throne, with the dignitaries of 

the city around him, ad- 
dressed the multitude who 
were assembled below in the 
dry bed of the Arno, and 
decreed that the Guelphs 
and Ghibellines should be- 
come friends. But though 
the leaders of the rival fac- 
tions kissed one another, they 
were not so ready to "make 
up," and, beginning to quar- 
rel again in less than a week, 
brought the ban of excom- 
munication upon Florence 
as a cit)-. 

The Pojite Vecchio is 
called the Jeweler's Bridge, 
because it is lined with shops 
representing that craft. 
From the Ponte Vecchio the ashes of Savonarola and his brother 
martyrs were cast into the Arno by order of the Signoria, that they 
might work no miracle detrimental to the city's interests. l:\\& Ponte 
a Santa Trinita is the most artistic of the bridges, its angles be- 
ing adorned with gems of art. A shocking and sad interest attaches 
to the Ponte alia Carraja. In 1304, a great May day fete was 
given in honor of a cardinal, and among other pageants, one had 
been prepared for him by which the horrors of hell were depicted 
by men, women and children, representing demons, who rushed about 
in flames of artificial fire, writhing and yelling, and punishing the 




BRONZE HELMET ORNAMENT. 



THE GENOESE. 67 

wicked, the scene of the terrible picture being laid upon a fleet of rafts 
and barges which covered the river below the bridge. The wooden 
structure gave way under its human load, and the spectators were pre- 
cipitated upon the performers, the resulting casualty snatching away 
some member of nearly every family in Florence. Dante, it is related, 
upon this occasion, conceived his idea of the Inferno. Not far from 
this bridge stands a house bearing an inscription to the effect that it was 
once the dwelling of Amerigo Vespucci. 

THE HOME OF COLUMBUS. 

The ancient inhabitants of Genoa, long before they were incorpor- 
ated with the Roman Empire, were Celts or Greeks ; this is as near as 
historians can get at their origin. In really historical times the Genoese 
were noted as brave and vigorous soldiers in the Roman legions and as 
untiring and enterprising merchants. When Genoa became a separate 
Italian state, she combined her military with her commercial strength, 
sturdily defending her galleys laden with rich merchandise, which covered 
the Mediterranean Sea, and carrying on wars with Pisa and Venice, 
which were her greatest rivals in trade. Pisa she crushed, while she was 
discomfited by Venice. In alliance with Pisa she drove the Saracens < 
from Corsica and Sardinia and vigorously sustained the Crusades. She 
was torn with civil dissensions between Guelph and Ghibelline factions, 
democratic and patrician leaders, but in the sixteenth century the republic 
was restored by her great citizen, Andrea Doria. Her foreign rulers 
were expelled, German and Austrian influence was broken, and she, with 
other cities of Sardinia, became finally a portion of the kingdom of Italy. 

But whether ruled by Lombards, Turks, Germans, native citizens 
and princes, or the French, whatever her fortunes, she has wonderfully 
maintained her commercial standing. The city, which is so picturesquely 
situated on the Mediterranean Sea, reveals its ancient warlike and com- 
mercial character. Palaces^ churches, hotels and private dwellings, ter- 
raced gardens and groves of orange and pomegranate trees, cover the 
slopes of the hills down to the shore, " while the bleak summits of the 
loftier ranges are capped with forts, batteries and outworks which con- 
stitute a line of fortifications of great strength and extensive circuit." But 
incorporated into the body of United Italy, the Genoese no longer dis- 
play their former bitterness toward sister cities. A few years ago, a 
portion of the huge chain which was drawn across the port of Pisa by its 
citizens to keep out the invading fleet, and which had been carried off by 
the Genoese when they blocked up the harbor and destroyed the com- 
merce of their rivals, was returned to the Tuscan port as an evidence of 



68 THE world's fair. 

good-will. But the sting of those bitter contests still rankles in the 
memories of the states of Northern Italy, especially of Tuscany, where a 
proverb still crouches under the tongue of every citizen to the effect 
that Genoa has "a sea without fish, mountains without stones, men with- 
out honor and women without modesty." If the proverb had omitted 
most of its irony and had continued, "buildings without streets," the as- 
sertions would have contained more truth. 

From the sea and the splendid harbor, with its lighthouse 300 feet 
in height, the city and shores of the gulf form a grand panorama, but 
entering the port, it is seen that the streets are so narrow that foot passen- 
gers and mules, loaded with merchandise, pack them from side to side. 
They are dark, gloomy labyrinths, lined with tall marble buildings, many 
of them having been the elegant, spacious palaces of merchant princes, 
doges, and powerful families who ruled the state. The two most famous 
are the Palazzo Ducale, formerly inhabited by the doges (those supreme 
magistrates of the city for two centuries), and in which the senate now 
meets ; and the Palazzo Doria, presented in the sixteenth century to the 
great citizen who threw off the French and foreign yoke, and became 
President of the new republic. Other palaces contain large galleries of 
paintings, which are shown for a fee, but most of them are occupied as 
public buildings. Few persons, even of distinction, in modern Genoa, 
can afford to occupy these stately marble piles. They have, therefore, 
been transformed into hotels or business establishments; and it is a 
forcible reminder of the instability of worldly affairs to enter one of 
these imposing palaces, and find its noble porticos or lobbies supported 
by marble columns and occupied by hucksters and petty traders. 

Genoa has one of the most elegant theatres in Italy, and a statue 
of Columbus which is well worthy of notice. The Cathedral of St. 
Lorenzo, among her noticeable churches, is a grand old pile in the Italian 
Gothic style. And there is one line of streets — the Strade Balbi, 
Nuovissima and Nuova — which would be a credit to any European city; 
but the same decay of the nobility is here as in the lanes of Genoa. The 
stately palaces rise magnificently on either hand " built with a central 
quadrangle, bright with fountains, flowers and orange groves and open 
to the public view through a wide and lofty gateway," but the lower 
stories have, many of them, been transformed into mercantile estabHsh- 
ments. 

NAPLES. 

Naples is famed for its beautiful bay, its noisy people, its historical 
associations, its ancient and excavated environs and the castles of Nor- 



69 



man, Bourbon and Saracenic origin scattered in and around it. The 
city is divided into two portions by a range of hills, the eastern division 
beino- the oldest and most thickly populated. It contains the chief 
public structures, but many of the streets are very narrow and paved 
with lava, the houses being of such great height that they appear to 
overhang the pathways. The western or modern section is intersected 
by broad and splendid thoroughfares, among the most famous being the 
Quay, which curves around the bay for three miles, on one side being a 
row of palaces and on the other a strip of beautiful parks, adorned with 
temples and fountains, groves of acacias and oranges. 

The architecture of Naples is brilliant rather than impressive. Of 
Its 300 churches the Ca- 
thedral of St. Gennaro 
is interesting as con- 
taining the tombs of 
Pope Innocent IV. and 
Charles of Anjou. Next 
to its museum, and com- 
ing before it in the 
minds of the populace, 
are the Opera House of 
San Carlo, one of the 
largest and most fash- 
ionable in Italy, and the 
"TeatrodiSan Carlina," 
where all classes fllock 
to witness the perform- 
ances of Pulcinella, the 
Italian " Punch." 

The fashionable 
promenade of Naples is 
the Villa Nazionale, be- 
ing nearly a mile long 
and two hundred feet 
wide, planted with evergreens and oaks, and containing temples 
dedicated to Virgil and Tasso, winding paths, grottos and a ter- 
race extending into the sea. Of the most famous castles, Nuova, 
is near the port and consists of massive towers and fosses. Be- 
tween two of the towers is the triumphal arch erected in honor 
of the entry of Alfonso of Aragon into the city. Within the castle 
are the barracks and armory, and the whole structure is connected with 




WALL PAINTING, POMPEII. 



•JO 



THE world's fair. 



the royal palace by a gallery. The arsenal and dockyard, at which 
frequently lie the great iron-clads of the Italian navy, adjoin the castle 
and the palace. In the southern portion of the city is the Castle dell' 
Ova (of oval form), now used as a prison, and the castle of St. Elmo, 
situated on a bold point and said to be honey-combed under ground with 
mines and passages. The castle has been dismantled, however, and is 
now a military prison. Other castles, once occupied by the Swabian, 
Anjou and other reigning dynasties, have been transformed into prisons 
and courts of law. The municipal palace is a great structure, covering 
200,000 square feet of ground, in which all the city business is transacted. 

Several of the most 
noteworthy of the 
churches of Naples stand 
upon the sites of ancient 
temples, erected by the 
Greeks in the days of 
their prosperity in Sicily 
and Southern Italy. The 
Cathedral is said to stand, 
on the foundations of a 
Temple of Apollo ; and 
others on the ruins ol 
Temples of Mercury and 
Diana. In fact, the pillars 
and marbles of the heath- 
en structures have often- 
times been built into the 
later churches. The Ca- 
thedral itself is supported 
by more than a hundred 
columns of granite, which 
belonged to the edifice 
over which it was erected. 
In a subterranean chapel 
under the choir is depos- 
TOMBs OF POMPEII. ited the body of St. Janu- 

arius, the patron saint of Naples. Two phials, said to contain his blood, 
are kept in the treasury of the cathedral. Upon occasions of public calam- 
ity and certain festivals devoted to him, the phials are brought forth 
and when, amidst the most solemn ceremonials, they are borne near the 
head of the saint (for he was beheaded) the body having been laid in the 




THE BURIED CITIES. 



71 



shrine beneath the high altar, the coagulated substance is said to liquefy, 
bubble, rise and fall, the miracle lasting several days and being the means 
of averting plagues and the eruptions of Vesuvius. 

THE BURIED CITIES. 



Naples is a contraction of Neapolis, the Greek for " new city." 
The original city is supposed to have been located on a ridge called 
Posilipo, in which were the residence and tomb of Virgil, the latter being 
at the entrance to a dark, romantic grotto. This ridge separates the 
Bay of Naples from the Bay of Pozzuoli, or Baiae. Around the shores 
of the latter beautiful sheet of water were the villas of the wealthiest 
of the Romans, and in its 
depths a corn-laden ship, which 
had barely escaped wreck, cast 
anchor and at the massive pier, 
which then stretched into the 
sea, discharged its grain and 
human freight. Its most pre- 
cious human burden, in view 
of subsequent events, was the 
rugged, manly, eloquent Paul, 
who was on his way to preach 
the gospel at Rome. On the 
eastern shore of the bay fickle 
and fierce Mount Vesuvius 
towers over little towns and 
villages, which seem drawn to 
its fertile slopes by some unac- 
countable fascination. Its ancient crater, at one time partly filled with 
water, was the fortress of the rebel chief, Spartacus ; that was before 
it had buried Herculaneum and Pompeii, the former in mud, the 
latter in ashes. After eighteen hundred years of darkness, Pompeii is 
being brought to light, while a modern village stands over the mountain 
of mud which covers Herculaneum. 

The site of Pompeii remained long unknown, for the fearful convul- 
sion which destroyed it raised the sea beach to a considerable height and 
diverted the stream which formerly skirted its walls far from its ancient 
course. Finally, however, about the middle of the eighteenth century, 
operations were begun in earnest by the Neapclitan government, and 
owing to the fact that in many places sand, aslies and cinders had been 




GARDEN AT POMPEII. 



72 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



mixed with the immense volumes of water which poured from the crater 
and formed a Hght covering of mud, the theatres, palaces, baths, houses, 
temples, with their statues and mosaics, were found in a remarkable state 
of preservation. Few skeletons were found, this circumstance going to 
show that most of the inhabitants were able to escape the general destruc- 
tion of the city. One remarkable exception to the comparatively small 
number of skeletons or casts, which have been excavated from the 
superb town or suburb, is the discovery made in excavating a Temple of 
Juno. From the position of the bodies it is evident that the deluded 
devotees had fled to their goddess for protection, and two hundred of her 

children there offered their last 



prayer to their divinity. The mi- 
nutest details of daily life and the 
most touching acts of heroism are 
revealed in the progress of these 
excavations. Taverns and bake- 
houses are entered, and the fruits 
and fish of the season are re- 
vealed, while loaves of bread 
which were never baked by arti- 
ficial heat are taken from ancient 
ovens. A sentinel at the city 
gate, young men and women 
clasping each other's hands, wo- 
men with their children, all escap- 
ing from the streets of the city 
to the life beyond — some courting death and others fleeing from it — 
such are faint gleams of the hundred tragedies which are drawn froni 
buried Pompeii. 

THE DEAD AND THE LIVING. 

Within the Museum of Naples are the majority of all the curiosities 
and treasures which have been brought from Pompeii and Herculaneum ; 
and in many cases the similarity of the domestic life of those days and 
the present is most striking — even the shape of the Pompeiian loaves is 
the same as the Neapolitan. Pompeii, however, was the elegant suburb 
of Naples, the resort of the wealthy Romans who had villas in the 
suburbs, and whose palaces and gardens stretched from it for miles 
around the bay. So that we must not imagine that the streets of 
Pompeii ever resounded with the noise and bustle of Naples. 

The Neapolitans live in the streets, and of all the thoroughfares in 




MARBLE TABLE FOUND AT POMPEIL 



VENICE RISING FROM THE SEA. 73 

the world for shouting, jamming, screaming, singing, cursing; for idlers 
intermingled with asses, mules, hand-carts and tradesmen working at their 
benches — for gesticulating, quibbing and throwing society into endless 
forms of confusion, the Street di Toledo, which intersects old Naples, 
stands without a rival in the world. Of late years, however, the mendi- 
cant classes have been decreasing and monks are not allowed to beg in 
public. 

VENICE RISING FROM THE SEA. 

If Venus rising from the sea was a subject over which ancient poets 
lavished their choicest colors, "Venice rising from the sea" has been an 
equally favorite theme with more modern writers. Though threadbare, 
it is an ever fresh and romantic topic — this rude tribe of Venetis fleeing 
from the Goths to the marshes and islands of the Adriatic and in two 
centuries building a large city, and in three a magnificent one, which 
covered eighty of those islands with arsenals, ship-yards, palaces, churches 
and great mercantile buildings. At first the people made salt and fished, 
then they traded in all parts of the world and established their commer- 
cial houses and factories in Rome and Constantinople. With the in- 
crease of their wealth their political power extended, and the Crusades 
made Venice the most powerful city in Lombardy, where almost all the 
riches of the East were concentrated. In the eighth century she be- 
came a republic, governed by a doge (duke). She was the acknowledged 
mistress of the Adriatic Sea, which for six centuries she annually 
"wedded" by casting a ring into its blue depths. " It is the only capital 
city of Europe that was not entered by an enemy from the downfall of 
the Roman Empire to the period of the French revolution." From its 
origin to that time it bore the name of a republic ; when the govern- 
ment was overthrown in 1797, it was the most ancient republic, even in 
name, which history records. With the discovery of the passage to 
India by way of the Cape of Good Hope, Portugal snatched from Venice 
the commerce of the East. The Turks took away Cyprus, Candia and 
her possessions in the Archipelago and Greece. Thus Venice was clipped 
so that she no longer soared, but was limited to her Italian possessions 
and European trade. These, in turn, contracted more and more, so that 
now, unlike Genoa, she is little else than a beautiful marble-like corpse. 

The Grand Canal divides Venice into two unequal parts, its tortu- 
ous course being intersected by 146 smaller channels. Over 300 bridges 
are thrown across these waterways, the most famous being the Rialto, a 
stone structure which spans the Grand Canal. Marble palaces, mighty 
church domes and public structures rise from the borders of the canals. 



74 THE world's fair. 

both great and small, but in summer and autumn, when the tides are 
highest and their green waters so distinctly reflect these architectural 
charms, Venice is a double vision of wonder and beauty. 

The center of attraction is the shrine of her patron saint, the Square 
of St. Mark. It is said that during the first part of the ninth century a 
fleet of Venetian merchantmen was driven by a storm into the Egyptian 
port of Alexandria. In gratitude to Heaven for their deliverance the 
crews obtained the supposed body of St. Mark and transported it to 
their city. This apostle thus became the tutelary saint of Venice. 

THE CHURCH OF ST. MARK. 

Upon the east side of the great square is the Church of St. Mark, 
built in the form of a Greek cross. Above the doorway are four famous 
bronze horses, brought from Constantinople, and great domes tower 
above the cathedral spire and minarets. The most stately of them all is 
the campanile, or bell tower, which rises over the cathedral " like a huge 
giant guarding the fairy creation at its foot." The tower is surmounted 
by the figure of an angel, which is thirty feet in height. St. Mark's 
cathedral is constructed of brick, incrusted with richly colored marbles ; 
the statues and profuse carvings are exquisite. Buildings for the accom- 
modation of the Patriarch, trustees of the church property, etc., etc., 
stand in stately array around the square. 

Ruskin gives this rich coloring to the interior of St. Mark: " The 
church is lost in a deep twilight, to which the eye must be accustomed 
for some moments before the form of the building can be traced ; and 
then there opens before us a vast cave hewn out into the form of a cross 
and divided into shadowy aisles by many pillars. Round the dome of 
its roof the light enters only through narrow apertures like large stars ; 
and here and there a ray or two from some far-away casement wanders 
into the darkness and casts a narrow phosphoric stream upon the waves 
of marble that heave and fall in a thousand colors along the floor. 
What else there is of light is from torches, or silver lamps, burning cease- 
lessly in the recesses of the chapels ; the roof sheeted with gold, and 
the polished walls covered with alabaster, give back at every curve and 
angle some feeble gleaming to the flames ; and the glories round the 
heads of the sculptured saints flash upon us as we pass them, and sink 
again into the gloom." 




THE FRENCH. 

flTHIN the veins of the French run streams of blood from 
Gallic (or Celtic), Prankish (Teutonic) and Roman sources. 
The aboriginal inhabitants were the Gauls who were conquered 
by the Romans, and the Gallo-Romans were, in turn, subdued 
by the Franks, a confederation of the German tribes whose 
country was in the vicinity of the Lower Rhine. It was not 
until the eighth century that the Frankish monarchs were able 
to bring beneath their sceptre the Britons, the Burgundians and 
the Visigoths of Spain, and thus unite all of modern France 
in one empire. Their rule was afterwards extended so as to 
include not only France, but Northeast Spain, a large part of Italy, and 
Germany to the Elbe. In fact, as is well known, the ambition of Char- 
lemagne was to re-establish the Roman Empire, with France instead of 
Italy as the center of power. His successors were unable, however, to 
keep the empire intact, and from it were formed France, Germany and 
Italy. Thus the Germans and the Italians retained their national char- 
acteristics, and a new people and a new language were permanently 
formed, a union of Gallic, Teutonic and Italian elements. 




FRENCH MARRIAGES. 



It matters not in France if a man is old enough to be a grandfather, 
should he desire to marry he must either obtain parental consent, prove 
the opposition is irrational or that he is an orphan. The object of this 
outside supervision is to prevent hasty marriages ; to put a balance- 
wheel upon love's reeling brain. These marital regulations are really based 
upon the laws of the nation, and the process by which couples who 
think they are old enough and of sound enough judgment to know their 
own minds, call upon parents or guardians to show cause why the mar- 
riage should not proceed is legally known as "a respectful summons to 
consent." With all these legal and private precautions in the matter of 
marriages, the matrimonial alliances of the French are not productive of 
greater happiness or worldly comfort than those of other countries, where 

' 75 



76 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



more is left to the heart and the Instincts of men and women than to 
personal worth. And it is undoubtedly the many formalities required in 
the various stages of introduction, acquaintanceship, courtship and be- 
trothal which has so decreased the number of marriages of late years. 
The birth-rate of France is also not only the lowest in Europe but in 
the world. 

THE BRETONS OF FRANCE. 



The extreme northwestern departments of France form a bold pen- 
insula, which extends into the Atlantic Ocean, A foggy, windy country, 

covered with stretches of 
moorland, cut up by well- 
watered and fertile valleys, 
with masses of granite ris- 
ing from the northern and 
southern districts and 
stretching into the sea — 
this, in brief, is Brittany. 
Peasants and fishermen, 
dressing and living as did 
their forefathers three cen- 
turies ago, many of the peo- 
ple still speaking the 
ancient Cimbric, or Welsh^ 
language, as they did when 
their brethren left them, in 
pre-historic times, and emi- 
grated across the English 
channel — these are the Bre- 
tons of Brittany. So slow 
are they to change that 
some of them even hold to 
the superstitions of the 
Druids, those savage and 
mysterious priests who, 
vv'hen the Romans landed 
upon the coasts of Great 
Britain, had obtained so tyrannical a sway over the Bretons and the 
Welsh, and who were offering up human sacrifices in their sacred and 
gloomy groves. Remains of the Druidical monuments, altars, and sepul- 
chres, are still found in Brittany, which was once subject to the same 




A FARMER OF BRITTANY. 



OUT INTO THE FIGHTING WORLD. 



n 



dominion. They are chiefly located in Southern Brittany, and are inter- 
mixed with Roman antiquities, mementos of Csesar's conquest prepar- 
atory to his invasion of Great Brittany, or Britain. 

The most remarkable of these remains is at Carnac, near Vannes, 
and consists of three groups of upright blocks, each separated from 
the next by the distance of about half a mile, yet with isolated blocks 
between showing that the series was once continuous. "In fact, the 
destructiveness that has for centuries been at work on these monuments 
makes it difificult to reconstruct the series, even in imagination. The 
inhabitants of the district have regarded them as a standing quarry of 
building materials, available without the trouble of excavation, and vil- 
lages, churches, farmhouses, all around, are massively constructed of the 
Celtic spoils. At length, however, the spoli- 
ation has ceased, the remains are classed 
among 'historical monuments' and are 
henceforth comparatively safe. What they 
meant, what they were, no man can tell. 
The tradition is hardly surprising that repre- 
sents them as an army of heathen warriors, 
stiffened into stone at the adjuration of the 
patron saint of the sea. Some have seen in 
them the long drawn aisles of Druidical wor- 
ship ; but most modern investigators think " ^-^^^^f .^^-^ ^\>r\'^ 
that they were ranges of sepulchral monu- 
ments ; and the disinterred relics from be- 
neath seem to confirm the supposition." In 
this same department of Morbihan may be 
seen remains of Roman villas and bath- 
houses, great broken pillars, and in an a beggar of brittany. 
island near the coast, is a wonderful cave containing a stone gal- 
lery of fifty feet in length, whose roof and sides are covered with engrav- 
ings and inscriptions which antiquarians have, so far, been unable to 
decipher. Cromlechs and avenues of upright stones, likewise mysteri- 
ously sculptured and attributed to Phcenicians, Egyptians, Carthaginians 
and Celts are found on the sea coast ; and at Vannes, the principal town 
of the department, is a museum of antiquities which, although of great 
variety, throw no light upon the mysteries. 




OUT INTO THE FIGHTING WORLD. 



Brittany seems to be the hermitage of France. Except that past 
ages are there petrified it furnishes few connecting strands with the 



7» THE WORLD S FAIR. 

present. It has little historic ground. The land generally is so destitute 
of everything but rugged strength — which does not invite invasion, 
generally — -that it has not been stained with any great battles, and the 
conflicts upon its soil are almost confined to those with Norman dukes, 
who had been given Brittany by the kings of France, and took a pride 
in actually possessing it. But down the coast to Nantes and La Rochelle, 
and along the banks of the stately Loire we commence to glide into 
territory fertilized with the blood of Catholics and Huguenots. The 
home of the Edict which so raised the hopes of the Protestants and the 
center of that disastrous emigration of skilled labor from France after 
its revocation, is an elegant city beautifully situated on the Loire, some 
of its modern districts being Parisian in their finish and brilliancy. For 
nearly a century the royal assurance that Protestants might worship and 
spread their faith, except in Paris, was a shining light to their souls ; 
although they could not print religious books in cities where their tenets 
were not held and were obliged to observe the festivals of the state 
religion and furnish their share toward its support. Nantes was the 
Vatican of their faith, but La Rochelle was its Castle of San Angelo. 

Rochelle was truly the Little Rock of the Protestant cause, but 
under the blows of Richelieu's genius and the royal troops it was split 
in twain, and the French Reformation was temporarily crushed. Its 
old fortifications were destroyed and the present ones subsequently 
erected. The principal streets and squares of Rochelle are adjacent to 
its great harbor. Of the scores of boats which are annually launched 
from its ship yards the majority of them are built for the Newfound- 
land fishing trade. 

Continuing the route by the Loire, one finds on either hand restful 
hills of verdure, ruined castles, vineyards and villages. This is the 
route by rail to Tours, near which Asiatic civilization was effectually 
expelled from Western Europe. Tours happens also to be on the 
direct southern route from Paris toward Bordeaux and Spain, so that 
when the Saracens were defeated the capital escaped an invasion of the 
warlike Mohammedans. Upon the plain of Tours is said to have fought 
the soul of brave St. Martin, within the texture of his holy cape, which, 
in its shrine, was borne to the battle-field. Four centuries previous, 
having converted the idolaters of Gaul, he now drove back the hosts of 
southern infidels from the soil of France. At Tours the warrior bishop 
had founded a Christian cathedral, which the Saracens left to be pil- 
laged by the Huguenots and to be totally destroyed, with the exception 
of two towers which now stand — the towers of St. Martin and of Charle- 
magne. "The former of these stood at the western entrance of the 



OUT INTO THE FIGHTING WORLD. 79 

church, the latter at the end of the northern transept ; and their dis- 
tance apart shows what must have been the size of that building to 
which, for centuries, the people of France resorted as to a Delphic shrine." 

Other triumphs than those recorded on the field of battle are found 
in a small square village, of small square houses, surrounding a small 
square or park wdiich is fronted by a small, neat church, and all hemmed 
about by shade and fruit trees and cultivated land. This is the colony, 
or reformatory of Mettray, about five miles from Tours on the opposite 
bank of the Loire, and founded by a Parisian lawyer and a viscount, for 
the purpose of training, educating, reforming and " keeping reformed " 
indigents and delinquents of irresponsible age, who were formerly com- 
mitted by the courts to the prisons of the state. Sevenpence a day is 
paid by the government for the support of the children w4iom it sen- 
tences to the strict but fatherly care of these philanthropists, the additional 
expenditures found necessary being met by the members of the " Pater- 
nal Society of Mettray." We do not mention the names of these faith- 
ful friends to each other and to the youth of the world ; for if one has 
not heard of Mettray and its founders he will assuredly become familiar 
with them when told that this movement is "the true parent of all 
institutions intended to reform and restore to society, and not merely to 
punish, juvenile delinquents." 

Between Tours and Orleans is the town of Blois, whose streets are 
flushed with water from public fountains which are supplied by a splen- 
did Roman aqueduct. But that is not enough to waste words upon, in 
this land of Roman aqueducts. There is a palatial castle, however, 
standing upon a hill and looking down in royal magnificence upon the 
little houses and crooked streets of the town. Within its walls was born 
Louis XII., and here Henry of Navarre was married. Four kings held 
their courts at the Castle of Blois, which witnessed, also, the murder of 
the duke of Guise, who held the reins of government with Catherine de 
jNIedici, mother of the young Charles. It was the scene of that same 
Catherine's death. 

As the dense and mighty oak forest of Orleans comes into view 
and the magnificent plain sloping toward the Loire, upon whose verge 
it stands, and then its walls and dry ditches, now softened by pleasant, 
shaded boulevards, the Maid appears in imagination, her slight form clad 
in armor leading the royal troops on to victory.. Inspired as they were by 
some mysterious electric current w^hich went out from her young soul. 
Orleans has its commercial advantages and fine Gothic churches, but to 
the world Joan of Arc is all there is of it. The town contains three 
statues erected to her memory, one of them being of the equestrian order. 



8o THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

THE PEOPLE OF THE PYRENEES. 

Having thus taken a quick journey through the western districts of 
France we have a little to say about the people of the Pyrenees, the 
shepherds and mountaineers and those residing in some of the neigh- 
boring villages. More particularly those aborigines, the Basques, merit 
attention. The general gate to the Pyrenees district, especially to the 
Basque country of both France and Spain, is the city of Bayonne, in the 
extreme southwest of the former country. 

In Bayonne French, Spanish and Basque mingle their distinctive 
tongues — the latter being as much distinguished by his harsh accents as 
by his national costume, his colored sash and his drooping cap. The 
city has, furthermore, a Jews' quarter (Saint Esprit) whose first citizens 
were the exiles from Spain, sent away by Ferdinand and Isabella, soon 
after the discovery of America. In the year of American independence 
they became citizens of France, 

Bayonne is strongly fortified, and, though besieged many times, it 
has never been captured ; hence its people fondly speak of it as the "vir- 
gin city." It was here, eighteen miles from the Spanish border, that 
Napoleon made the arrangement with Ferdinand V-II. by which the 
crown of Spain was placed upon the head of his brother Joseph. And 
at the corner of the city wall stands a little stone structure, surmounted 
with a cupola, under which plays the fountain of St. Leon. The water 
first sprung from the ground under the stimulus of the precious drops of 
blood which fell upon it from the head of the decapitated saint, which he 
bore in his own hands to that spot. Bayonne has now one of the finest 
arsenals in France ; as is fitting, some may say, for the city which gave 
the name to the bayonet. But like many popular tales this one has 
wagged for long years, only to be at last arrested if not stayed com- 
pletely. " The French cross-bowmen were anciently called boidnniers 
and bayna is Spanish for the sheath of a small sword. The sheath may 
have given name to its contents ; a supposition which seems to be con- 
firmed by several facts. The earliest bayonet sheaths were very elabo- 
rately ornamented, and the rules relating to military costume have a 
great deal to say about the position of the sheath." 

A short ride by rail from Bayonne is Biarritz, on the shores of the 
Bay of Biscay. In the month of August, before most of the tourists 
have arrived, the Basques of Basse Pyrenees assemble in its streets, 
crowned with flowers and ribbons, bearing with them the violin, tam- 
bourine, flageolet and drum, and busily preparing to perform their 
national dance, the " mouchico." This ended, they march to the shore of 



THE PEOPLE OF THE PYRENEES. 8 1 

the bay, and men and women, joining hands, rush out to meet the 
mighty surf, with songs and wild native cries. 

From Biarritz a few miles is a little village which is near the bound- 
ary of the two countries and at the angle of the eastern point of the 
bay. It was once quite a commercial port, but the waves of the Atlan- 
tic raged across Biscay for a week and destroyed its harbor and its pros- 
pects. Within sight are wooded and vine-clad slopes, the advance 
guards of the dignified Pyrenees. The red and white houses of the 
Basque peasants dash the quiet color here and there with cheerful con- 
trasts, and from hill and valley they swarm to the small Catholic church 
in the little village. The church is devoid of ornament, but once 
within, the worshipers arrange themselves in so quaint, notto say prim- 
itive, a fashion that no decorations are required by which to rivet the 
stranger's attention. The two ranges of galleries which run around 
three sides of the room are furnished with comfortable seats, all occu- 
pied by men. The women sit upon the floor of the nave, being accom- 
modated with simple cushions of black cloth embroidered with crosses. 

In a wa}-, this church is historical, for in it occurred the marriage of 
Louis XI\\ and the Infanta, Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. of 
Spain. The door by which the royal couple entered is now walled up. 
This marriage was in fulfillment of treaty between the two monarchs, 
concluded the previous year, the conference taking place on a little island 
in Bidassoa river, which marks the boundary line between France and 
Spain. This bank of mud has been the scene of several royal confer- 
ences and treaties. 

A panoramic view of the French and the Spanish sides of the 
Pyrenees would make one imagine that the scenes were laid in lands 
which were thousands of miles apart. The northern slopes of the moun- 
tains are divided into charming valleys. Beautiful lakes and fine pasture 
lands lie below, while orchards and forests stretch far up the slopes. 
The Spanish side presents a series of abrupt, rugged terraces with scanty 
vegetation. 

The valleys of the Pyrenees cross them almost invariably, forming 
numerous passes, which are historically famous and from whose great 
heights the remarkable contrast which has been noticed above can be 
enjoyed in reality. The inhabitants of the mountains are, as might be 
expected, rugged, cheerful and independent. In many pleasant vales 
nestle pretty villages. The only disagreeable feature of the whole land- 
scape, in fact, are the large and fierce shepherd dogs, who consider every 
object not entirely familiar a deadly enemy to their herds and flocks. 
The cattle and sheep often have no other guardians than these faithful 



52 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

brutes except children,, who will often be met far from any habitation, 
knitting contentedly, or engaged on some lace work. Near the summits 
of these lofty passes, sometimes all but buried in the shade of the upper 
valleys, are famous mineral springs to which the fair-faced ladies of 
France and gouty noblemen resort by the hundreds. The traveler thus 
meets modern styles as an offset to the brightly-clad peasants, the rough 
goat-herds and the Spanish muleteers, 

ROYALTY AND RELIGION. 

There are many interesting and picturesque little villages scattered 
along the line of the Pyrenees, but the beauties of the mountains com- 
pletely absorb them until one commences to investigate their historical 
attractions. Pau, for instance, in the Basque province of Basses 
Pyrenees is pretty enough, but the eyes are drawn from it to the soft dis- 
tant mountains and a sharp blue cone which pierces the sky, called the 
Pic du Midi d' Ossau, or the Bear; but the village contains the chateau 
of Henry of Navarre, and the chateau the chamber where Henry IV. was 
born "and where hangs the royal cradle under a canopy — a single tor- 
toise shell suspended from a tripod." 

Within sight of the peak is Lourdes, a shabby town among the 
mountains. Overhanging it is a great rock upon which stands a 
ruined castle said to have been built by Julius Caesar. But that never 
could have attracted hundreds of thousands of people to it. The town 
is built upon a plateau and contains convents and churches. Near the 
center of the plain is a great statue, representing a white-robed girl, 
standing in an attitude of religious ecstasy, her feet resting upon a rock 
wreathed with vines. Extending along the bank of the river Gave, and 
at the foot of the plateau upon which Pau is built, is a park, and within 
this, near the river, is a mass of rock containing a grotto crowned with 
a beautiful church. Above the rocky mound and the church is a higher 
ridge bearing a great crucifix upon its crest. The statue in the plain is 
that of " Our Lady of Lourdes," and the grotto is where the sickly child 
of the poor peasant, according to her declaration, repeatedly was visited 
by the Holy Virgin, who caused a stream to gush forth from the cave. 
The bishop declared the miracle authentic, and hundreds of thousands of 
pilgrims have since repaired to the shrine, to have their bodies healed 
and their souls cleansed. The sacred spring is covered with a wire netting. 
In front of the grotto is a paved court extending toward the river which is 
covered with pilgrims seated upon wooden benches, standing or kneeling 
upon the stones. Near by is a stone tank, from which a priest draws 
the healing waters, which are brought from the grotto in pipes, and 



A WONDERFUL FORTIFIED CITY. 83 

close to the cave is a ragged niche filled with crutches, canes and other 
proofs of its miraculous powers. The town has the appearance of a com- 
mercial mart, for no one of the thousands of devotees who journey to 
Lourdes neglects to carry away with him a photograph or image of the 
Lady, a water can, cross or rosary, and the winding street is filled with 
shops piled to the roof with these souvenirs. 

A WONDERFUL FORTIFIED CITY. 

In direct contrast to the attractions of Lourdes are those of Carcas- 
sonne, an important manufacturing and commercial center of Southeast- 
ern France. The river Aude divides the place into the new city and 
the old, and although the brilliant cloths of Carcassonne go even to 
Africa and South America, it is to the mass of fortifications in the 
ancient section that most steps are directed. Briefly stated it occupies 
the site of an ancient city of Gaul belonging to a Celtic tribe of Asia 
Minor, and in the fifth century a. d., the Visigoths took it from the 
Romans and held it. It commanded the most convenient routes into 
Spain over the Eastern Pyrenees and the fortifying of Carcassonne really 
commences from this period. During the thirteenth century the French 
kings added the style of fortifications prevalent in the middle ages to 
the rugged defences which the Visigoths had erected during their three 
centuries of occupancy. So that by the towers, portcullis, ditches, loop- 
holes, openings in the walls through which stone and hot oil were poured 
upon besiegers, battlements etc., one is able to trace the style and devel- 
opment of the science of fortification for many centuries. The walls of 
the Visigoth, the Moorish and the French periods show the effects of 
mighty sieges, their huge foundations being in places battered as if by 
the shells of modern mortars. Above the principal gate of the fortress 
in a niche is the " defaced figure of Carcas, a Saracen woman who, 
according to the legend, alone remained in the city after a siege of five 
years by Charlemagne. The versions of the legend differ. One is to 
the effect that she capitulated and presented the keys of the city to 
Charlemagne ; another that Charlemagne was about to raise the siege 
in despair, when a tower gave way and opened a breach for his troops." 
Northwestof Carcassonne, fifty miles, is Toulouse, in reaching which 
one at length departs from the wedge-shaped district whose base is the 
Pyrenees and Spain. By the careless brushing up of his history any 
one will remember the massacres and persecutions which its citizens 
have suffered, and how, long ages previous to that, it was the capital of 
the \'isigoths. Its principal church is said to contain the skulls of 



84 THE world's fair. 

Thomas Aquinas and St. Barnabas, and relics of St. Bartholomew, the 
two Jameses and Philip of Spain, a thorn from the sacred crown, pieces 
of the true cross, the robe of the Virgin and a stone on which she laid 
the infant when he was born, The first bishop of Toulouse is, further- 
more, reported to have been born in Greece, to have journeyed to Pal- 
estine, to have sat at the feet of John the Baptist and of Jesus, to have 
followed Peter to Rome and to have been dispatched by him to his charge. 

THE VINEYARD OF THE EARTH. 

Leaving behind us the country of the Basques, descendants of the 
most ancient race of France, we strike across country from Toulouse, 
and traversing a dreary waste of sand, fir trees and thistles, we suddenly 
approach one of the most prolific vine-bearing districts of the world. 
Its border lies upon the western banks of the river Gironde, and in 
naming Bordeaux as its center the story is partly told. From near the 
city to the sea stretches a long, narrow plain, thickly covered with vine- 
yards. This strip, which is as famous as any in " the Vineyard of the 
Earth," supplies a strong, red wine which is the favorite article for 
export, sea voyages even seeming to improve its flavor. Many people 
imagine that when they drink " claret" it comes direct from this strip 
of country known as Medoc, but the truth is that the French do not 
recognize any such variety, and the claret, or clarified wine, is a mixture 
of several kinds "the strong-bodied varieties of Spain and Southern 
and Southeastern France being mingled (at Bordeaux) with the ordinary 
growths of Gironde to suit the English and American palate." Many 
of the wines receive their names both from the commune in which they 
are produced and the particular estate from whose great vineyards they 
come. 

The warm slopes of the Pyrenees, in the exti'eme southern part of 
France are covered with vineyards from which are obtained such famous 
wines as the Muscat. North of this section is the historic region from 
which we have lately traveled, forming a portion of an ancient province 
with Toulouse as its capital. The wines drained from the luscious 
grapes which grow from the 650,000 acres of vineyards are rich, but not 
as delicate as those of the Gironde. One single department of this 
section is said to yield more wine than the entire kingdom of Portugal. 

The Valley of the Rhone also appears as a rich section of the earth's 
vineyard. In the old province of Dauphiny, now Drome, is a lofty hill 
which rises from the river's edge like a great dome. Bacchus, could he 
have viewed its terraced sides, upon which the bright, warm sun is ever 




IN THE FIELDS OF FRANCE, 



86 THE world's fair. 

playing, would never have left its great vineyards, which seem to lie over it 
in a lazy, not to say mellow attitude of enjoyment. The wines are called 
the Hermitage, from the fact that the richly-laden hill was formerly sur- 
mounted by a structure which served as the retreat of a Castilian courtier. 

Throughout the length of the sunny valleys of the Rhone and 
Saone, clear into the districts of old Burgundy, the hillsides are simply 
matted with vineyards. The true Burgundy wines are raised in the 
department of Cote d' Or, which is situated in the upper valley of the 
Saone, where it turns toward the German boundary. Through this 
department runs a range of hills, on whose southeastern slopes and 
spreading far over the plain below are the vineyards and rich estates 
which produce the wines of Burgundy. There are few more cheerful 
sights in the world than these hills of sunny France when their thous- 
ands of tons of grapes are ripe for the harvest. The sun floods them 
with so golden a light that the department itself has perpetuated the 
glorious sight in its very name — the "golden side." The methods of 
the manufacture of Burgundy wines are, however, rude and often filthy, 
and it is rightly said that the " golden side " produces some of the best 
as well as some of the worst varieties in the world. 

One department intervenes between the Burgundy and the Cham- 
pagne district, which lies among the headwaters of the river Seine, in 
Northeastern France. The ancient province of Champagne adjoined 
Burgundy on the north. Of the modern department, which is the par- 
ticular center of champagne manufacturing, the arrondissements of 
Rheims and Epernay produce the best article. Upon the slopes of a 
wooded mountain in Rheims and over an undulating plain on the Marne 
river, in Epernay, the champagne vineyards sun themselves. In Septem- 
ber and October the grapes are collected and selected. The first three 
pressings are placed in vats, and after the froth and fine, pulpy matter 
have separated, the juice is run into barrels and left to ferment. Within 
two months the clear wine is drawn from the dregs, and being skillfully 
mixed with the vintages of previous years, is allowed to rest until spring. 
The " sparkle " comes from a second fermentation, which occurs after 
the liquor has been bottled, and to obtain which it is sometimes found 
necessary to add sugar or brandy. Champagne is rarely exported until 
it is two years old, having to undergo other minor processes. 

FROM NICE TO CALAIS. 

We have a plan now to retrace our steps southward, down the val- 
leys of the Saone and Rhone to the sea and then journey north from 
Nice to Calais, taking a wide sweep of country as we go. 



MARSEILLES. 



87 



The first point on the Mediterranean coast going west towards 
Marseilles, which receives the attention of travelers (and it is often the 
last) is a dense group of buildings upon a bold promontory which extends 
defiantly out into the sea. It is the town of Monaco, a portion really of 
a small Italian principality governed by a prince who established an 
abbey in his province, abolished all taxes, and, as an offset to this gener- 
osity extended the operations of his gambling establishments from which 
he derived a truly princely revenue. As a watering place Monaco is 
almost a rival to Nice. Nice lies upon the shores of the Mediterranean, 
quietly sunning herself, her ladylike moods being thoroughly enjoyed by 
the invalids who resort to her for consolation and strength. Her sur- 
roundings are as pretty as herself. She is the petted French child of 
England. 

A sister to Nice is Cannes, a little to the west. Lord Brougham made 
it fashionable to Englishmen by living there and dying there. The grave 
is in the town's cemetery, marked by a large granite cross. The citadel 
of the " man in the iron mask" stands upon the Island of Ste. Marguerite, 
opposite Cannes. 

And Toulon, still west, is the great military stronghold of the repub- 
lic, with vast floating docks and arsenals. The fortifications were 
originally constructed for the benefit of the pirates of the Mediterranean. 
The English forces once held Toulon, but were driven out by Napoleon. 

MARSEILLES. 

As the tourist will have guessed, we touch at these minor ports 
merely to prepare him for Marseilles, the ancient Massilia founded by 
Ionian colonists from Asia Minor, 600 b. c. Whenever history has 
recorded her acts they have been opposed to despotism. She declared 
for Pompey against Caesar, and when annexed to the Roman republic 
became noteworthy as a champion of popular rights, as she had 
become famous as a commercial and colonizing city and a seat of learn- 
ing. The old motto of the city was " Liberty under any government." 
This was engraved in golden letters over her city gate. Louis XIV. 
had it removed. " Under previous kings that may have been possible, 
but not under me," he said ; and the motto was removed from the gate, 
but not from the popular heart. Marseilles, of all the cities in France, 
seemed authorized to baptize her grand national hymn, which has 
worked so much good and so much ill. It was born in the brain of a 
young officer of Strasburg, it was sung by the author to the mayor's 
family, it flew from town to town without a name, it entered Marseilles, 



88 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

whose Girondists seized, upon it and bore it with them to Paris, scatter- 
ing its trumpet-hke notes throughout France. Thus it was named after 
the natives of the republican city, " The Marseillaise." Even the Ter- 
rorists, who guillotined the Girondists, shouted it as their bloody cry. 

To the north of the modern city lies ancient Marseilles, with 
crooked and dirty streets and lanes, several squares, a singular public 
hall and the ruins of Roman ramparts. It is separated from the great 
commercial port by a broad avenue which bounds the city on that side 
and leads to a delightful promenade on the sea shore. 

DESERTS AND RUINS. 

Above Marseilles to the Rhone is a desert of small stones, and be- 
yond the river for some distance west is a plain of salt. This strange 
tract of Southern France, extending nearly to the Cevennes mountains, 
has been pithily called "Africa in Europe," and it lacks neither the mi- 
rage nor the fowl of lower Egypt to carry out the delusion. Aries, once 
a Roman city of importance, may stand as a Cairo in ruins, being at the 
apex of the Rhone delta and containing an obelisk of gray granite fifty 
feet in height, which was taken from the bed of the river_ in the seven- 
teenth century. Aries boasted one of those immense amphitheatres 
whose ruins are scattered so thickly over the Roman dominions. Re- 
mains of temples, a triumphal arch and an aqueduct, the Byzantine cathe- 
dral dedicated to Paul's companion, St. Trophinus, the town hall de- 
signed by Mansard and the great pagan burying ground (the *' Elysian 
Fields") make it worth one's time to loiter at Aries. AVhen these at- 
tractions, and others, are exhausted it may be noted that its sausage fac- 
tories are famous throughout France for the excellence of their products. 

A few miles inland from the left bank of the river, on the borders of 
that salt plain to which reference has been made, is the city of Nimes. 
The city is unattractive except for its Roman ruins, which surpass in 
grandeur and preservation those of any other locality outside of Italy. 
Its stupendous amphitheatre in which 2,000 people were living previous 
to its restoration, and which has been used as a fortress by Visigoths, 
Saracens and Franks ; the museum of paintings and antiquities occupy- 
ing a beautiful and ancient Corinthian temple; the remnants of Roman 
towers, gates and baths, not to mention the graceful three-storied aque- 
duct near the city, the fountain within the public garden which supplied 
the baths with water, and modern cathedrals and edifices — these studies 
in ancient and modern architecture make Nimes one of the most attrac- 
tive places in Southern France. 

Returning to the river, thc^ walled cit)' of Avignon, over which looms 



LYONS AND HER WEAVERS. 89 

the vast palace of the popes is seen ; the scene of twenty-one great coun- 
cils of the church, the undisputed papal residence for seventy years and 
the home of the rival popes of Rome for fifty more. This sombre 
Gothic structure is no longer sacred to ecclesiastical purposes, it being 
devoted to the uses of a prison and barracks ; a sequence to the con- 
finement therein of the ambitious and unfortunate Rienzi, the last of the 
Roman tribunes, who had laid the astounding scheme before the King 
of Spain for the conquest of Italy. It was at the Church of Ste. Clara 
that Petrarch met his Laura. 

On the way from Avignon to Lyons, which lies through the 
" Hermitage" wine district, are Orange and Vienna. The former exhibits 
an out-of-doors Roman theatre, a hill-side cut into many tiers of seats, 
and opposite a lofty wall which served as the background for the stage 
scenery. The bright little town has also the remains of a triumphal 
arch to show, and is celebrated in history as the center of the principality 
of Orange, founded by Charlemagne and passing into the hands of 
noble houses, the last one being that which became extinct with William 
III. Frederick I. of Prussia and a prince of Holland laid claim to the 
principalit}', but by treaty it was ceded to France although the princes 
of Nassau-Dietz are allowed to assume the title of "Princes of Orange." 

The approach to Lyons is through Vienne, the country from Orange 
being a succession of rugged landscapes in the valley of the Rhone, 
bordered by mountains and limestone cliffs in the distance. Vienne was 
the capital of Burgundy, and has the inevitable amphitheatre and aque- 
duct which accompany all ancient cities of importance. But when 
Pontius Pilate was exiled to this city from Rome, whither he had been 
sent in disgrace because he had ordered an unjust massacre of the 
Samaritans, Vienne was an obscure town of Gaul; here he committed 
suicide, six or seven years after the crucifixion of Jesus ; and a century 
after Pilate's death the Christian churches of Vienne suffered the most 
shocking persecutions. 

LYONS AND HER WEAVERS. 

As the Gulf of Lyons is said to have been so named from the fury 
of its gales, which frequently rage and roar across it like wild beasts, so 
the city of Lyons might justly have been christened with reference to 
the turbulent character of its people. Notwithstanding the blood and 
floods of water which have flowed through its streets, the serene Virgin, 
from the lofty dome of Notre Dame, which crowns the hill upon which 
the ancient city stood, appears to be dispensing her blessings over the 
great city stretching from the opposite river bank over an undulating 



90 THE world's fair. 

peninsula, its outlying suburbs and villas being lost in the foot-hills of 
the Cevennes Mountains, while far to the east are seen the outlines of 
the mighty Alps. When the air is clearest Mount Blanc even rises in a 
mightier serenity and spirit of benediction. 

The city which stood upon this hill dates from before Christ's time, 
and became the center of the four great Roman roads which traversed 
Gaul. It was pampered by the emperors, destroyed by fire and by one 
of the Roman monarchs because it declared for his rival, was the scene 
of Christian persecutions and the martyrdom of St. Irenseus, and was 
razed by Attila and most of its Roman monuments destroyed. But 
from the time the four Roman roads were made to center at Lugdunum 
the locality was marked by nature as the center of a world-famed trade 
and commerce ; and its modern sieges and insurrections have resulted 
from the radical character of its manufacturing laborers. 

A line of fortifications and forts is drawn around the city and car- 
ried over the hills which command its suburbs. To the north of the 
fortifications are two villages in the commune of La Croix Rousse, which 
were the centers of the labor uprisings of the past fifty years and which 
caused the authorities to protect the city with strong walls and cannon. 
They are principally inhabited by silk weavers, who also are scattered 
in other suburbs and throughout the city. This class of the population 
would probably number 150,000 hands, but they are not crowded into 
smoky, greasy factories whose tall chimneys disfigure the city. The 
dwelling of the master weaver is his factory, and here, with a few looms, 
himself, family and such hired operatives as he needs conduct the busi- 
ness. Raw silk and patterns are supplied him by the silk merchant, who 
really rents the looms and pays the wages of the hands. The Palais des 
Beaux Arts, formerly an ancient convent, is devoted to museums of art 
and science, chambers of commerce, schools of agriculture and pattern 
designing for silks. It also contains an establishment where the un- 
vvrought silk from thousands of looms is brought to be reduced, by heat, 
to an equable weight and dryness. This system of silk manufacturing 
is cum.bersome in the extreme, although the beauty and cleanliness of 
the city are enhanced, but it is forced upon the merchants of Lyons by 
scarcity of coal. 

The beauties of this principal manufacturing city of France, with 
her stupendous quays, her great bridges, churches, commercial societies 
and labor tribunals, her squares which witnessed the dark shadows of 
the guillotine, her gardens, villas, majestic river and distant wonders of 
sky and mountain — upon these we need not dwell ; for our interest in 
Lyons is founded upon her silk, her silk weavers and the gigantic efforts 



GLEAMS FROM EASTERN FRANCE. 9I 

which are being made by arbitration, under the shadows of great 
ramparts and a score of substantial forts, to quiet the waves of discon- 
tent which are continually arising from the confined and generally 
deformed body of the people. 

GLEAMS FROM EASTERN FRANCE. 

The distant view of the Alps obtained from the Church of Notre 
Dame, at Lyons, reminds one that from that commercial center went forth 
an influence which pervaded its valleys and was felt all along the banks 
of the river which rises in those heights and flows toward the Rhone. 
Peter Waldo, one of Lyons most wealthy citizens, sold all his goods 
and gave them to the poor. To the poverty-stricken of the city he then 
commenced to preach, for which he and his followers were excommuni- 
cated by the Pope. France, Italy and Bohemia took up his cause, and 
the sufferings of the Waldenses or Vaudois, in the valleys and mountains 
of Southeastern France, were but just begun when they were slaughtered 
by combined French and Italian armies and their children distributed in 
the villages of their foes. During the first portion of the present cen- 
tury Turin, and later Florence, became the center of their religious 
activities, which are now unshackled. 

The river Isere and the equally furious Durance river cut through 
the land of this hunted people, who, in France were driven to take ref- 
uge among the rocks and caves of half a dozen valleys. Even there 
they had no time to build fortresses, like that of Briancon which sur- 
rounds the village. The town itself stands on a rock which descends 
abruptly, on one side, to the river below, and Is protected by a mountain 
from enemies in the rear. A sight of this rugged little town, with its 
rugged surroundings, is sufificient evidence of the truth of the statement 
that the stronghold has been besieged but never capitulated. West of 
Briancon is a grand mountain whose peaks and glaciers have witnessed 
amid their glooms and glistenings, thousands of refugees for conscience' 
sake. Briancon is the principal arsenal of the French Alps, command- 
ing the route to Piedmont, but Mount Pelvoux, to which the hunted 
Vaudois fled is mightier than it. 

North of the Isere river, in almost a direct line across the province 
of Isere from Vienne, in a wild and romantic valley, surrounded by 
mountain forests and rocks is an ungainly collection of sharp-roofed 
buildings which compose the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse. 
This is the headquarters of the celebrated order of monks which has 
remained unmolested since the eleventh century, when it was founded 
by St. Juno, not the patron saint of Prussia, but another St. Juno, born, 




B.Sci^V.rY^. '^^^ 



FRENCH \'ii,lac;ers. 



GLEAMS FROM EASTERN FRANCE. 93 

however, in Germany. Amid these solitudes the fathers and brothers 
labor, watch and pray, living a life of self-denial. Tea, coffee and meat 
are even excluded from the monastery. Opposite the monastery build- 
ing is a rude structure in charge of some sisters of charity, used as a 
house of entertainment for lady visitors. But, whether to the male or 
female sex, hospitality is not distributed gratis, regular charges being 
made for meals and lodging. The Grand Chartreuse is about thirteen 
miles northeast of Grenoble, a charming town smiling on the river 
banks at the glaciers in the distance, and hemmed in by natural and 
artificial fortresses. 

Every mile of country from Lyons to Calais, along the Jura Moun- 
tains, the tributaries of the Saone river and the Meuse, has some natural 
beauty or historic significance. The Moselle from Germany dips gently 
into French territory and Vassy, Chalons, Metz and Sedan tell of fierce 
fields of contention and disputed territory, Strasburg, on the Rhine, 
and the province of Vosges, a little to the west but a portion of France, 
teach the lesson that, though national boundaries may divide, the work 
of philanthropists is a common heritage. The labors of John Oberlin 
among the peasants and mountaineers of Alsace, by which he not only 
touched their consciences but taught them how to plow, plant and reap, 
have not only made whole communities and villages prosperous, but 
spread his name over Europe and America. In this region of war and 
philanthropy, where the Meuse has become almost a rivulet, is a little 
village in which stands a rude stone cottage which is treasured by France, 
for it was the birthplace and home of Joan of Arc, religious enthusiast 
and inspired warrior. " With touching characteristic sentiment she had 
asked as her only reward that her native village should be released from 
taxation, and the boon was freely accorded for many generations, the 
entry in the tax-register opposite Domremy being, 'cancelled on account 
of La Pucelle.' " 

An excursion through the picturesque country of the Meuse, with a 
divergence to the west, will bring one to Rheims, where the modest 
Maid saw Charles the Victorious receive the holy unction from the sa- 
cred " ampulla," or flask. It is said to have been brought down from 
heaven by a dove, that Clovis might be anointed, in the fifth century. 
For many centuries the kings of France were thus honored by the arch- 
bishop of Rheims. The beautiful Gothic edifice and famous cathedral 
of Notre Dime was built during the early part of the thirteenth century; 
in it the kings of France were crowned for nearly six centuries. Charles, 
the last of the Bourbons, was anointed, and the oil then failed ; although 
there is some doubt as to the genuineness of the article since the revo- 



94 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



lution, when the ampulla was broken and thrown away. A pious indi- 
vidual, however, is reported to have recovered a fragment, with a small 
quantity of the Clovis oil, which he presented to the archbishop. 

Amiens, in the department of Somme. is on the borders of old 
Normandy. It is an ancient Roman city, containing the ruins of a for- 
mer citadel, but it is chiefly noted for its gorgeous cathedral and as 
being the birthplace of Peter the Hermit, who led so many knights of 
Normandy on disastrous crusades. 

CHEERY NORMANDY. 

Perhaps the reader will already have penetrated our design, which 
has been to rapidly encompass France and approach its superb capital 
by way of Normandy, which embraced the Seine and held the key to 






.,v5*.^raa^ 




RENAISSANCE WINDOW, ROUEN. 

Paris. The Northmen, or Normans, during the ninth century, repeat- 
edly ascended the river with their great fleets to carry consternation to 
the city. One of their greatest chiefs finally married the king's daugh- 
ter, and received a tract of land north of the river to the sea, which 
was the foundation of Normandy. The chief Rollo became first duke 
of Normandy and the ancestor, six generations away, of William the 
Conqueror. Other accessions followed, until the dukedom included that 
part of Northwestern France embraced in the present departments of 
Seine-Inferieure, Eure, Calvados, Orne and Manche. Normandy was 
joined by Brittany on the southwest, and two more dissimilar districts 
or people seldom came together. 

Rouen and Caen were the chief cities of Normandy, the former 
being its capital; and the most satisfactory and cheery approach to Paris 
and to France is by way of the coast of Normandy, with its sunny 



THE CONQUERORS HOME. 95 

watering places and fresh, quaint looking people. Rouen, even to its 
churches, is bright with sunshine and the cheerfulness of its citizens. 
There are no gloomy cathedrals in Rouen. Notre Dame, profusely 
ornamented and surmounted by a dome 470 feet high, still has its inte- 
rior flooded with sunlight from 1 30 windows. And yet it contains tombs, 
including that of Richard Coeur de Lion ; the dust into which the " iron 
heart" has mouldered is now in the Rouen museum. Near the cathe- 
dral is the Abbey Church of St. Ouen, its light, lofty tower terminating 
in a crown of fleurs de lis, and its bright aspect being charmingly softened 
and mellowed by its two great rose-windows. Public squares are not 
the boast of Rouen, but it contains one which attracts thousands of 
travelers. It is the scene of the burning of Joan of Arc, and where her 
body was given to the elements is a drinking fountain without water and 
an unworthy statue of La Pucelle. 

THE CONQUEROR'S HOME. 

Before finally starting Paris-ward it would be a sad neglect of duty 
not to take a run into the native land of William the Conqueror. Caen 
is ten miles from the English Channel and about twice as far west of the 
Seine's mouth. A quaint combination it is of modern life surrounded 
by an ancient atmosphere. It has fine promenades, broad streets, large 
buildings and beautiful churches. At one extremity of the town is a 
massive, severe, but noble looking structure, the Church of St. Etienne, 
built by William and in which he was buried. Saint Trinite, an elegant, 
light and restful church, stands at the other end of Caen. This was 
either founded by Queen Matilda, or erected for her, according to her 
plans, by William the Conqueror. What a gulf between the mighty 
William and Beau Brummel, the leader of the London fashions ! Yet, 
in death, they were joined at Caen, although separated by centuries of 
time. 

Twenty miles or more inland from Caen is a picturesque country of 
river and wooded cliffs. Built upon such cliffs is a quiet manufacturing 
village, over which, on a bold ascent, towers the old Norman castle of 
Falaise. From its tower a sweeping view of Normandy may be obtained, 
but no one mounts into the gloomy castle chambers for landscape see- 
ing — rather to view the room in which William the Conqueror is said to 
have been born. The castle consists of two portions, the large, square 
Norman keep, standing at the highest part of the rocky eminence, and 
a circular tower, of later construction, connected with the former by a 
passage. Around all is a line of fortifications following the irregular out- 



96 THE world's fair. 

lines of the hill. In the keep, so it is said, the Conqueror was born, and 
the guides pretend to show the very room where the event took place and 
the identical window from which his father, Duke Robert the Magnifi- 
cent, first saw Arlette, the daughter of the Falaise tanner. The older 
portions of the castle show marks of the sieges which it has withstood, a 
breach being still pointed out which was the result of seven days' can- 
nonade by Henry IV. 

Nearer the channel than Caen and west of it is the town of Bayeux, 
which has been made historically famous by the most elaborate and 
gigantic piece of needlework in the world. In a large room adjoining 
the public library, preserved under glass, is displayed "a piece of jDicto- 
rial needlework supposed to have been done by Queen Matilda and the 
ladies of her court, representing the events connected with the conquest 
of England. It is worked, like a sampler, in woolen thread of different 
colors, is 20 inches wide and 214 feet long and has 72 divisions, each 
with a Latin inscription designating its subject. It is of great historical 
value, since it not only exhibits with minuteness Norman customs and 
manners at the time of the Conquest, but pictures events of which no 
other record exists — among others the siege of Dinan and the war 
between the duke of Normandy and Conan, earl of Brittany." 

The remarkable thing about this remarkable piece of tapestry is its 
fresh, bright appearance, notwithstanding that it has been exhibited in 
Paris and nearly every town of France. The cathedral which it was 
originally intended to adorn has been leveled with the ground. Of the 
historical events which it portrays the most important is the invasion of 
England, by which it can be learned better, than from any description in 
words, how William's cavalry was transported and the very construction 
of the Norman weapons and their spades for use in earthworks and forti- 
fications. The horses are being swung out of the ships in cranes and 
pulleys, and the spades, on account of the scarcity of iron in those days, 
are only tipped with that metal. A great banquet precedes the battle 
of Hastings, which is depicted with spirit and vigor, considering that 
most of the figures are coarsely worked in green and yellow colors ; but 
the whole story is told — the great cavalry charge, the Conqueror in the 
lead, sitting like a rock on a gigantic black horse, the consternation of 
his followers at his reported death, the rout of the enemy and Harold's 
death and the stripping of the wounded after the fray. The figures in 
the tapestry often suggest an entire ignorance of anatomy, and the per- 
spective is Chinese in its character, but the attitudes and facial lines are 
frequently worthy of a Nast. As with everything of interest which 
originated long ago, doubt has been thrown upon the authenticity of the 



NORMAN GIRLS, 9/ 

tapestry , but whether Matilda and her ladies did work it or not is of 
secondary importance to the fact, which is firmly established, that it was 
made soon after the Conquest by somebody who was directed by an 
intimate, at least, of the royal couple, and the artist was a close observer, 
if not a genius. There is evidence that the date of its construction was 
near that of the Conquest, and also that Odo, bishop of Bayeux, the 
Conqueror's half-brother, ordered and arranged the work to the exact 
length of the walls of the church round which it was to have been placed. 
Still another delay is in order before starting toward Paris — caused 
by a desire to visit Mont St. Michael, which is a singular cone of granite 
rising from the English Channel at the angle where Brittany and Nor- 
mandy come together. The mount, which shoots from a level expanse 
of shifting sands, is surmounted by a castle and a church ; and lower 
down clusters of houses hang to it, occupied by fishermen. The castle 
was a great Norman stronghold during the middle ages, and for three 
hundred years the magnificent spire of the church, surmounted by the 
image of St. Michael, the patron saint of the coast, has been a beacon 
to mariners approaching the shores of "France. Monks and dukes have 
made their pilgrimages to this stronghold of arms and religion. It is 
from St. Michael that William the Conqueror and Harold marched on 
Dinan, the strongest fortified town of Brittany ; and the treacherous 
white sands around the mount which the warriors skirted on their way 
to Brittany are faithfully depicted in the Bayeux tapestry. Within the 
great castle is the spacious Gothic hall of the Knights of Mont St. 
Michael, "with its carved stone-work and lofty roof, supported by three 
rows of pillars, beautiful in proportion and grand in effect, although the 
Revolution, as usual, has left us little but the bare walls ; but as we look 
down upon it from a gallery it is easy to picture the splendor of a ban- 
quet of knights in the twelfth century, with the banners and insignia of 
chivalry ranged upon the walls." 

NORMAN GIRLS. • 

Again, before returning to Rouen, the tourist must not fail to visit 
a few of the quaint Norman villages, with their tall, peaked-roofed 
houses and neat women, wearing their lace caps, chatting and eating in 
the market-place. The caps bloom, like flowers, into every conceivable 
form, from that of a helmet to that of a Turk's military cap, a starched 
funnel or a modern bonnet. Wandering from the market again, we 
find " houses built out over rivers, looking like pieces of old furniture, 
ranged side by side, rich in color and wonderfully preserved, with their 



98 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

wooden gables, carved in oak of the fifteenth century, supported by 
massive timbers, sound and strong, of even older date ; many of these 
houses, with windows full of flowers, and creepers twining around the 
old eaves, and long drying poles stretched out horizontally, with gay- 
colored clothes upon them flapping in the wind — all contrasting curi- 
ously with the dark buildings." 

But the little villages, like the larger towns, are attractive as much 
for the many delicate threads which connect them with Paris and modern 
life as for the unaffected air of their people and their historical glamour. 
Nearly every house is a manufactory ; and though its inmates keep their 
hearts with the days of simple, merry Normandy, their eyes look toward 
modern Paris and their fingers clasp considerable of her money. From 
Cherbourg often wander wide-awake, finely-mustached, loosely-dressed 
French marines, who leave their gloomy iron clads at anchor in the great 
harbor to gossip with the pretty maidens of Normandy in the market 
places. The girls may have walked in from the country with their 
baskets of vegetables, or from the sea shore with their shining captives. 
Their eyes are brighter than their fish and their cheeks fresher than 
their vegetables, and yet they will tell you that though many of their 
products of sea and land reach Paris, they never have been there, but, 
some day, hope to reach the beautiful city; and their hope is not unreas- 
onable, as one will see by glancing at any good map of France, for no 
matter how small the town there is the railroad which runs to Paris. 

THE APPROACH TO PARIS. 

Having encompassed Paris we are now at liberty to approach it from 
any direction. If we come from the southeast we must stop at the town 
of Fontainebleau, with its royal pleasure palace and gardens embedded 
in its solid square miles of forest. The artificial and natural charms of 
this royal retreat date from the tenth century, when the chateau was 
founded. Two centuries later it was rebuilt, subsequently enlarged, 
fell into decay, repaired and embellished and from the sixteenth century 
all the monarchs of France added something to it. Historically it is fa- 
mous for scenes which are guide posts to the domestic happiness, the 
miseries, the supposed necessities of state in the life of Napoleon,and it 
was from Fontainebleau that he signed the act of abdication. Here also 
the emperor had detained Pope Pius as a prisoner for nearly two years. 
Treaties and important state transactions and magnificent fetes under 
the Louises and Napoleons have, after Versailles, made Fontainebleau 
the most fitting approach to that great city which so fascinatingly com- 
bines stupendous historical events with irrepressible gayety. 



A BIRD S-EYE VIEW. 99 

"The gardens of Fontainebleau," it is pithily said, "will fascinate the 
lovers of elaborate arrangement and orderly primness, but are not other- 
wise remarkable except for their great fish ponds. On the whole, they 
scarcely repay a walk round, especially when outside them stretches the 
magnificent forest, with its heathery slopes, dark fir woods, vast expanses 
of green sward, planted with beech and oak, and a surface broken into 
wild picturesque gorges by the scars and rocky projections of the sand- 
stone." 

A score of miles nearer Paris, going in the same general direction, is 
Vincennes, a fortress where are trained the best marksmen of the French 
army, and which has likewise a chateau and park. The castle, a repre- 
sentative of the middle ages, is rectangular in shape, and was once sur- 
rounded by nine great towers. Only one now remains, 1 70 feet high, 
with walls seventeen feet thick. From the time of Phillippe de Valois 
until the days of Louis XV. the chateau was a royal residence. It then 
became a prison for such personages as Henry IV, the Prince of Conde, 
Cardinal de Retz, Mirabeau and the Due d' Enghien who was shot in 
the moat of the castle. 

We may still verge to the west and enter the city by the Orleans 
railway or still further west by way of Versailles. Without another 
delay, except to dwell for a moment upon the attractions of Versailles 
and its kingly palace, we shall approach the environs of Paris from the 
southwest. The road from the capital, ten miles distant, becomes an 
avenue in Versailles, dividing the miniature Paris into two parts. The 
palace, formerly priory and castle, under the princely treatment of three 
Louises, reached its present state of magnificence and down to the time 
of the Revolution was one of the residences of the court. The Revolu- 
tion was born in th^ palace of Versailles by the meeting of the states — 
general therein. With the passing over of the blackest clouds of that 
storm the palace became a museum, filled with pictures of French heroes 
and monarchs and scenes in their careers. The gardens, terraces, aven- 
ues, squares and public fountains of Versailles are stately rather than 
picturesque. In Versailles King William was proclaimed Emperor of 
Germany and the capitulation of Paris signed. On May 5, 1889, the 
brilliant ceremonies were conducted, at Versailles, which inaugurated 
the great World's Fair — a gigantic celebration of the centennial anniver- 
sary of the French Revolution. 

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW, 

It is from the direction of Versailles that one obtains the best bird's- 
eye view of Paris. The city lies in a hollow, encircled by two ranges of 
hills, the inner ones being the lowest and occasionally falling within the 



lOO THE world's FAIR. ' 

municipal limits. The outlying heights are from two to four miles from 
the city walls and upon them are posted the forts, or their ruins, which 
command every approach to Paris. Mount Valerien to the west, over- 
looking one of the railroads to Versailles, is the highest point from which 
Paris may be viewed. The Seine is seen entering from the southeast, 
winding among its great buildings, boulevards and parks, and divid- 
ing its bewildering magnificence into two unequal parts, the northern 
being much larger, and then sweeping boldly, so as almost to wash the 
heights of St. Cloud, it flows northeast past scores of pretty suburbs and 
villages. Just as it seems destined to pursue an unvarying course 
toward Calais it bends like the neck of a stately swan toward the green 
fields and kind people of Normandy. 

OLD PARIS 

In his Commentaries, Julius Caesar is the first historian to notice a 
collection of mud huts built mostly upon two islands in the river which 
we now call the Seine. This was the chief settlement of the Parish, a 
Gallic tribe, which he conquered. Those islands are still where Czesar 
saw them, but their mud huts have given place to the Cathedral of Notre 
Dame, the Palais de Justice, a grand hotel and other beautiful religious 
and secular edifices. An elegant bridge connects the two islands, from 
which may be seen that Notre Dame, the most impressive of Parisian 
churches, with its ancient rose-windows and massive towers. Near by 
rises the arrowy spire of Saint Chapelle, a blazing and glittering pile, 
built by St. Louis to contain the relics which he had brought from the 
Holy Land, but which was chiefly devoted to royal marriages, christen- 
ings and coronations. This church is within the precincts of the Palace of 
Justice, an immense structure containing various courts of law, and upon 
this ancient ground of mud huts, within hailing distance of the Palace, is 
the prison of the Conciergerie, scene of the sorrow and rage of Marie 
Antoinette, Danton and Robespierre, and of the heart-rending suspense 
which racked the bodies and souls of the prisoners during the Reign of 
Terror. Here prisoners are still confined, pending their trial, and La 
Force is yet the greatest of the prisons of Paris. 

NORTH OF THE SEINE. 

It is but a short walk from the nucleus of ancient Paris to the cen- 
ter of the modern city. On the opposite or northern bank of the river, 
where Caesar found scarcely a hut of mud, are the ruins of the Tuileries 
and palace of the Louvre, in the famous gardens of the Tuileries, with 



NORTH OF THE SEINE. lOI 

the restored Hdtel de Ville which is directly across from the upper end 
of the Island of La Cite. In the vicinity of the Tuileries is the Palais 
Royale, the extensive court which it surrounds having echoed to the 
trumpet tones of Desmoulins, who cast that vast wave of fury against 
the Bastile, whose former gloomy walls are now remembered by the 
handsome public square which is opposite the Place Royale. It is known 
as the Place de la Bastile, and is a short distance directly east of the Place 
de I'Hotel de Ville, for many ages the scene of public executions and 
the spot at which some of the bloodiest deeds of the Revolution were 
perpetrated. 

The Place de la Concorde connects the gardens of the Tuileries and 
the thousand feet of ruins composing the old palace with the Champs 
Elysees, that grand popular avenue, at the western extremity of which 
is Napoleon's Arch of Triumph, the largest and grandest of its kind in 
the world. It is also the boundary of the magnificent district of Paris 
in that direction. 

The Place de la Concorde is worthy of facing this arch of architect- 
ural triumph, but like all the other ambitious and successful works of 
beauty which grace the city, the Revolution has cast its shadow and dashed 
the blood of Paris over its marble monuments and into the waters of its 
fountains. In the center of the square is an obeUsk covered with hiero- 
glyphics which stood, over thirty-three centuries ago, in front of a great 
temple of Thebes. It was placed there by Rameses II., one of those 
hoary monarchs whose greatness we only feel through all the mists of 
ages, and may have been brought almost face to face with the monument 
to Bonaparte's fame in order to teach the lesson of the weakness of human 
achievement. The shaft of the Egyptian king marks the site of the 
guillotine which cut short the lives of Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, 
Philippe Egalite, Danton, Robespierre and a host of others. 

On the Champs Elysees, within sight of the Place de la Concorde is 
the Palace of Industry, or the Paris Exposition, constructed originally 
for the world's fair of 1855 and now a permanent exhibition. The ex- 
position of 1867 was held on the Champ de Mars, the military parade 
ground on the opposite side of the river, just around a bend. 

The city residence of the President of the Republic, the Elysee 
Palace overlooks the avenue, while further away from the river than we 
have been, north of the Tuileries and Louvre, are the most convenient, 
tasteful and magnificent theatres of Europe, and just on the outskirts of 
this center of comedy and tragedy, tears and laughter, music, song and 
dance, is the center of no insignificent section of the financial activity of 
Europe, the Bourse and Tribunal of Commerce — a square, Roman-like 



I02 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

Structure, supported by a stately array of pillars and approached by a 
grand stairway. 

In the theatre district between the Palais Royale and the Grand 
Opera House is the Place Venddme, with a second column of Trajan 
in its center, commemorative, however, of Napoleon's campaign of 
1805 ; the before-mentioned place of amusement also fronts upon a 
square which would seem more magnificent, if admiration were not 
drawn from it to the structure which outshines it as the sun does the 



Not far north of the Champs Elysees is an imposing structure 

raised upon an ponderous 
platform, surrounded by a 
colonnade of pillars,carved, 
frescoed and gilded. If it 
was not built by some of 
the old masters of Greece, 
it is a wonderful and mod- 
ern imitation of their best 
work. The Madeline is a 
Christianized Grecian tem- 
ple, one of the triumphs 
of modern architecture, 
although not original in its 
character 

SOUTH OF THE 
SEINE. 

The district which lies 
on the southern bank of 
the Seine opposite the 
islands which were the nu- 
cleus of old Paris, and 
A MODERN FRENCH PAINTER. which correspouds to the 

modern city from the Place de la Bastille, or Ouartier St. Antoine, 
to the Arch of Triumph, is covered with gardens, military grounds, 
scientific institutions and churches. The immense wine market is near 
the river on the opposite shore from the arsenal. A short distance from 
the Seine but directly south of the great church of Notre Dame, on the 
Island of La Cite, is the College of France, one of whose objects is to 
apply science to industry, and for that purpose furnishes the public with 




ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. IO3 

gratuitous lectures. Another stratum is also reached by its free lectures 
in the departments of philosophy and letters. 

The Institute of France, across the river from the Tuileries, is the 
result of two centuries and a half of the country's best thought, being a 
combination of five academies, whose specialties are the maintenance of 
the native tongue in its purity; the study of universal history and com- 
parative philology, of the sciences, of the arts and of moral philosophy 
and affairs of state. The parent of the Institute was the French Acad- 
emy founded by Richelieu. This, and the other academies which were 
merged into the Institute, continued until abolished by the republican 
convention of i 793, but were consolidated under the different names, 
National, Imperial, and France, by the Directory, Napoleon and Louis 
XV 11 1, respectively. 

The Pantheon, or Church of Ste. Genevieve (Paris' patron saint) 
looms up from beyond the College de France and the other educational 
institutes and edifices in this vicinity. It is in the form of a mighty 
Greek cross, united under the dome which rises nearly 200 feet. The 
Pantheon was originally built as a monument to celebrated Frenchmen, 
and still contains the tombs of Rousseau, Lagrange, Lannes and Vol- 
taire, with many others. 

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 

Among the scores of other churches which it has been impossible to 
describe is that of St. Vincent de Paul. To worthily commemorate the 
grand character of Vincent de Paul it could not be too stately or too 
beautiful. Although patronized by cardinals and royal families, he chose 
to labor among peasants, convicts and beggars, endeavoring to relieve 
them bodily, mentally and spiritually. In this field, also, so disinterested, 
able and tender were all his ministrations that he received the assist- 
ance of counts and nobles in establishing missions among the poor and 
hospitals for the sick. In much of his ecclesiastical work he was 
the adviser of Cardinal Richelieu ; but the proximity of such a lumi- 
nary did not dim him. He continued to be the apostle of thieves 
and sinners. Wherever sin, famine and suffering were creating 
the greatest havoc, there was Vincent de Paul. The crowning 
work of his life was the founding of the order of Sisters of Charity 
and a hospital for the poor of Paris. A royal edict obliged 
every beggar to enter this institution or to work for a living. 
This great and good man was canonized seventy years after his 
death. 




ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 



VICTOR HUGO. 

VICTOR HUGO. 



105 



There was another mighty man of Paris and of France, whom the 
world claims as one of her geniuses, and who was as different from St. 
Vincent de Paul as the rushing whirlwind is from the broad, steady- 




BUST OF VICTOR HUGO. 



flowing river. Victor Hugo was precocious, and not the only exception 
to the saying (which no doubt issued from the jealous soul of some 
average, disappointed mortal) that he who is early ripe is early rotten. 
Before he was thirty years old he was famous, and continued to add to his 



I06 THE world's fair. 

fame for over half a century. His mother was a native of La Vendee; 
his father was high in the good graces of Napoleon, He lived a por. 
tion of his time with his mother in Paris, the balance with his father in 
Italy and Spain, or followed his own inclinations ; that is, he was his 
own master until, as an outspoken member of the Assembly, he offended 
Napoleon and was banished from France for life. He took up his res- 
idence in the Isle of Jersey, and although he did not return to his native 
land for twenty years, he flooded Europe with political pamphlets, phil- 
osophical dissertations, poems, novels and dramas, which, in turn, 
enraged, bewildered and charmed the world. Whatever he did created 
a sensation, and, genius though he was, he perhaps strove too often 
after the sensational at the expense of leaving a less enduring mark 
than if he had been less conscious of himself. As a lyric poet and a 
novelist, he has been crowned as king by the French people. His death, 
in May, 1885, extinguished a living light, both bright and warm, whose 
influence will be felt for generations to come, 

THE MILITARY QUARTER. 

The western portion of this district of churches and colleges (where 
also are the magnificent Luxembourg gardens and palace, with the 
Archiepiscopal palace) is the military quarter of Paris. Next to the 
Archiepiscopal palace near the Seine is the soldiers' asylum, with its 
spacious courts, the Hotel des Invalides. Within the limits of the 
Invalides is the great porphyry sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte, 
standing directly under the masterly dome of the Church of St. Louis. 
To the south of the asylum is the military school, and adjoining its 
grounds and fronting on the river, is the famous Champ de Mars, scene 
of historical events and grand military reviews. For one week after 
July 7, 1790, an army of men and women was seen day and night, upon 
the grounds, working like maniacs in their eagerness to get all in readi- 
ness for the grand festival in honor of the king who was to bow to the 
constitution of the people. 

BOULEVARDS AND PARKS. 

The Paris Observatory is the rear guard of this vast district, which 
is a union of church, school and arms. With even this imperfect sketch 
of the wonders of Parisian glory in all the departments of modern civil- 
ization — not even mentioning her scores of great hospitals, hotels, 
manufactories, libraries and museums — we must say a word about her 
boulevards, parks and theatres. 



THEATRES AND DELICATE ECONOMY. I07 

The most famous of the boulevards are within the limits of the old 
city walls and cover the district already described from the Church of 
the Madeline to the Place de Bastile. Here are the most beautiful Par- 
isian stores, the banking houses, theatres, centres of gossip and of trade. 

We have already noticed the avenue of the Champs Elysees and 
the triumphal arch standing in it, or rather in the Place de I'Etoile, into 
which the stately thoroughfare expands. From this square radiate ten 
broad avenues, the most magnificent of which is the avenue Bois de 
Boulogne, divided into road ways, bridle paths, footwalks, bordered with 
bright and ingenious gardens and fringed with villas and private grounds. 
The avenue leads to a park of the same name, in which art and nature 
seem to strive for the prize of beauty and which is one of the most fav- 
orite resorts of all classes. It is outside of the fortifications. 

Other popular places of resort are the zoological gardens, near the 
wine market, with their wonderfully perfect menagerie, which are on the 
direct route from the Place de Bastile on the other side of the river, and 
the park of Vincennes, east of the city. This is in line with the greatest 
attractions of the city, and is not an ignoble conclusion of the pleasure 
seeking. Besides its historic and military attractions it contains a race 
course, a large artificial lake and numerous other means of recreation. 

For miles along the Seine on either side the quays are paved and 
beautified, and afford noble promenades. Even the sewers of Paris have 
within the last thirty years been transformed into things of wonder, not 
to say magnificence, as the mains generally follow the chief thoroughfares 
of the city and the connections correspond to the minor streets. 

THEATRES AND DELICATE ECONOMY. 

We already know where the theatres of Paris are. The Theatre 
Francaise leads all the rest, not only in the magnificence of its appoint- 
ments but the brilliancy of its companies. Moliere, or the company 
which he directed, founded it two centuries ago. The Opera House 
stands close behind it, the two being under the direct patronage of the 
government ; other places of amusement are also assisted from the 
national treasury, the government, on its part, levying a generous tax 
upon all the receipts for the benefit of the public charities. So that if 
Paris is gay and spends her millions in amusing herself, her gayety 
becomes a continual blessing to the poor, which can be said of few great 
cities. 

Another peculiarity has been noticed of the Parisian. Although 
he is fond of good clothes and dies upon " all work and no play," he has 



I08 THE world's fair. 

Studied the science of economy in every phase. There is perhaps no 
one in the world who looks better and appears to live better on a smaller 
sum than the Parisian. Nothing goes to waste, and yet though he may 
have to count the cost of every cent there is little of that heart-rending 
" pinching " to be observed among the proud poor which is seen in other 
cities. Just so many vegetables served up in their dainty dishes, nicely 
seasoned and cooked, so much meat and so much wine, A great deal 
of chatting and laughter makes the meals go further and accomplishes 
more than if rushed down with the rapacity of the Englishman or the 
speed of the American. As proficients in the art of practicing a delicate 
economy the French, and the Parisian in particular, are unapproachable. 
The assertion has been made by some that the French are not hearty 
enough to fight the battle of civilization against Englishmen, Germans, 
Russians and Americans, but the monuments of greatness which they 
have reared in Paris alone would seem to indicate that so far they have 
possessed considerable stamina. 

It may be that their lightness of spirit and the peculiar faculty they 
have of making everything so appetizing, turn the smaller quantities of 
food which they consume into more than the average amount of blood 
and brain. The Parisian bread carrier is ofttimes enough to make one 
long for one of her tremendous loaves — not an uncouth, dirty man, 
with black hands, is the bread carrier, but a dainty girl in a frilled cap, a 
neat bodice and a pretty, clean apron, the latter being filled with the 
fresh loaves, which are also loaded into a basket strapped to her shoul- 
ders, like so many sticks of cordwood. 

Next in demand to the bread carriers are the wine merchants. 
They are of all grades, although since the Bastile is gone, St. Antoine 
is no more, and the other squalid and criminal quarters have been cut 
up into great streets and squares, and connected with aristocratic Paris, 
there are few Defarges such as Dickens described in his Tale of Two 
Cities. The trade is getting into more respectable hands ; the Defarges 
are growing less in number, while the mirrored restaurants and cafes on 
the streets off from the central boulevards of Paris, and frequented by 
the fashionables, artists, scientists, students and business men of the 
city, are becoming more and more the mainstays of the wine merchants. 
The great center of the wine trade is the market, which we have already 
noticed and in which 500,000 casks of wine can be stowed. It is one 
of the most bustling places in all this bustling city. 

Across the river, perhaps half a mile from it, forming a triangle with 
the Hotel de Ville and the Tuileries as the base, is the Central Market. 
It covers twenty acres of ground and consists of a dozen immense pavil- 



SUPPLE AND MUSCULAR PEOPLE, 1 09 

ions, connected by covered streets. Underneath the pavilions are great 
tanks for Hve fish and cool vaults for the storage of vegetables and fruits. 
Underground railways connect them with railroad termini, so that the 
produce can be conveniently delivered and the garbage removed. 

The business man of Paris is usually circulating somewhere in the 
vicinity of the Bourse or the Bank of France. Here are found the other 
financial institutions and the railway offices of the great trunk lines; the 
headquarters of national financiers, the bondholders, the capitalists, the 
schemers, where such enterprises as the Suez and the Panama Canals are 
launched upon the money market of France and the world. The Bank 
of France has branches in all the departments of the republic and in 
Algiers, and from it issue all the government notes. 

The Bourse and Chamber or Tribunal of Commerce are also so 
closely connected with the government that they are considered national 
institutions. Members of the latter body are elected by the chief rrer- 
chants of the city or town who are named by the mayor or perfect. 
There is a chamber of commerce in every city and considerable town in 
France, which is consulted by the government on all matters of public 
interest, such as taxation and the improvement of land and water ways. 
When not volunteered such advice can be demanded, so that a member 
of the Tribunal of Commerce becomes, in a certain sense, an integral part 
of the government, bound to further its aims toward public prosperity. 

SUPPLE AND MUSCULAR PEOPLE. 

The predominating trait of the French is suppleness — which never 
excludes strength. The Italian and Celtic elements predominate in their 
character, their language being the most important of the Romanic 
tongues. The Celtic elements were lost, however, in the flood of 
Prankish words which poured from the north and those of Latin origin 
which came from the south. It is the unison of the Teutonic muscul- 
arity with the Italian suppleness which has made French people and the 
French language what they are. The rise of the troubadours, who sung 
their songs of chivalry in the southern, or Provencal dialect, had much 
effect in moulding the tongue into graceful lines. The crusades introduced 
some Arabic terms and when Frenchmen began to cultivate the natural 
sciences Greek and Latin terms crept in. But it was not until the mid- 
dle ages that the Franco-Romanic dialect of the north and the Provencal 
tongue were welded into one harmonious language, which has no super- 
ior as a medium for communicating the most diverse of ideas and cover- 
ing the greatest range of sentiment. In the province of light literature 



no THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

French writers are unrivalled ; and yet Calvin is not the only divine of 
France who has illustrated the weight of his native language as a judg- 
ment trumpet and inspirer of awe. Balzac and Descartes show the 
French as careful and profound philosophers, Voltaire and Rousseau as 
versatile geniuses capable, with their supple language, of touching every 
phase of human life except that in which reverence is crowned as king. 
Montesquieu was broad, masculine and keen. After placing the Dumas, 
Hugos, Sues, Vernes, Corneilles, Racines and Molieres in a group, 
imagine opposite them Lamartine, Guizot, Thiers and Taine, as histor- 
ians, Comte, the Positive philosopher, Cuvier, Laplace, Lagrange, 
Bastiat, DeTocqueville and a host of others, eminent in scientific and 
social questions ; and then answer the question whether the French are 
not intellectually muscular as well as versatile. 

One of the most conclusive evidences of their healthful elasticity as 
a nation is the wonderful vigor with which they rebounded from the 
crushing defeat of the Franco-Prussian war; not only evincing no 
depression of spirits but, while repairing their losses at home, lifting a 
great debt from their shoulders and continuing to increase in national 
wealth in a ratio which excited the admiration of the world. 




THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 

jOMMENCING with Herodotus, down a long line of ancient 
historians, modern English writers have industriously collected 
the evidence which goes to prove that the Kimmerians, or Kelts, 
from whom the ancient Britons were descended, about the sev- 
enteenth century before Christ, were driven out of Asia into 
Europe by vast hordes of Scythians, from whom in turn have 
been traced the Goths, the Germans and the ancient Saxons. 
The Kelts, once in Europe, dashed again and again against 
Greece and Rome. Shadowy records of these mighty conflicts 
are found in the ancient traditions of Wales and in the songs 
of her bards which have come down to us. In Caesar's time they had 
almost ceased to exist on the continent, but had crossed from France 
into England and had obtained much power. Their old enemies, the 
Scythians, or (as they became generally known in Europe) the Goths, 
came pouring after them, and followed in their footsteps of warring 
against Rome, 

BASIS OF THE ENGLISHMAN. 




One of the tribes farthest removed from the scene of bloodshed 
were the Saxons. They dwelt on the sea coast from the mouths of the 
Rhine to the Baltic Sea, and soon became a terror to all the maritime 
tribes and colonies. The Saxons were at the head of a confederation 
which was finally formed for protection against Rome, and the brave 
Jutes and Angles were their neighbors. The Jutes were those who were 
first called to England by the Britons to drive back the wild tribes who 
were threatening them from the north. One race of Kelts, the Highland 
Scotchmen, were about to pour down upon the southern tribes, the 
Britons , and now came over a tribe of their ancient enemies, the 
descendants of those Scythians who had driven them out of Asia, to save 
Kelt from Kelt. Thus prodigious are the cycles of history. 

Angles and Saxons followed, and Danes also. These are the tribes 
which are the foundation of the great island kingdom. Every school- 
boy knows it. But what manner of people were these who came to the 



I 1 2 THE world's FAIR. 

island, partly by invitation and partly by invasion? Taine, the English 
historian, thus tells us: "As you coast the North Sea from the Scheldt 
to Jutland, you will mark in the first place that the characteristic feature 
is the want of slope, marsh, waste, shoal ; the rivers hardly drag them- 
selves along, swollen and sluggish, with long black-looking waves ; the 
flooding stream oozes over the banks and appears further on in stagnant 
pools. In Holland the soil is but a sediment of mud; here and there 
only does the earth cover it with a crust, shallow and brittle, the mere 
alluvium of the river, which the river seems ever about to destroy. Thick 
clouds hover above, being fed by ceaseless exhalations. They lazily turn 
their violet flanks, grow black, suddenly descend in heavy showers ; the 
vapor, like a furnace smoke, crawls forever on the horizon. Thus 
watered, plants multiply ; in the angle between Jutland and the Conti- 
nent, in a fat, muddy soil, the verdure is as fresh as that of England, 
Immense forests covered the land even after the eleventh century. The 
sap of this humid country, thick and potent, circulates in man as in the 
plants. Man's respiration, nutrition, sensation and habits affect also his 
faculties and his frame. 

" Over the sea, flat on his face, lies the monstrous, terrible north 
wind, sighing and sinking his voice as in secret, like an old grumbler. 
Rain, wind and surge leave room for naught but gloomy and melancholy 
thoughts. The very joy of the billows has in it an inexplicable restless- 
ness and harshness. From Holland to Jutland, a string of small, deluged 
islands bears witness to their ravages. In winter a breastplate of ice 
covers the streams; the sea drives back the frozen masses as they de- 
scend ; they pile themselves with a crash upon the sand banks and sway 
to and fro ; now and then you may see a vessel, seized as in a vise, split 
in two beneath their violence. Picture in this foggy clime, amid hoar- 
frost and storm, in these marshes and forests, half naked savages, a kind 
of wild beasts, fishers and hunters, but especially hunters of men ; these 
are they, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians; later on, Danes, who during 
the fifth and ninth centuries, with their swords and battle-axes took and 
kept the island of Britain. A rude and foggy land like their own, except 
in the depth of its sea and the safety of its coasts, which one day will 
call up real fleets and mighty vessels ; green England — the word rises to 
the lips and expresses all." 

When the Norman brought his softer ways to Great Britain he 
found the Anglo-Saxon "a magnificent animal," broad-shouldered, deep- 
chested, a tremendous eater; hardy, independent, even stubborn: a 
native with a splendid physique and a hard head ; a lover of his snug 
kingdom and his adopted home. The Anglo-Saxon was broadened in 



THE LESS RULING THE GREATER. I I3 

his ideas by the new comer, without being alienated from his country. 
He commenced to look beyond Great Britain, and the spirit of adventure 
and conquest which he had as an Angle, as a Saxon and as a Dane, 
took possession of him and has never left him. A healthy brain in a 
healthy body has pushed his name and power around the globe. 

THE LESS RULING THE GREATER. 

Great Britain presents one of the most remarkable instances of 
intellectual achievement, in the matter of conquest, which the world has 
ever known. The Russian Empire is great, but the Russians are in the 
majority, at least three to one. The Empire of Great Britain is greater 
in square miles, its population is nearly three times as great, and yet the 
people of the dependencies outnumber the inhabitants of the parent 
country at least in the ratio of five to one. 

Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America have seen the fleets 
of England, and been colonized or conquered by people from her shores. 
The Englishman is the universal traveler, and there is not a desert in 
Africa or a forest in Australia, or a field of ice in the Arctics, where man 
has gone, that his feet have not trod ; and in this connection we mean 
not only the Englishman of Great Britain, but that other great repre- 
sentative of the race, the American of the United States. The telegraph 
and the railroad have done for Great Britain what could not otherwise 
have been accomplished if every Englishman had been a walking arsenal. 
Submarine cables and trans-continental telegraphs and railroads not only 
bind her distant dominions to herself, but make each a unit in itself. 

EXPLORING THE THAMES. 

Englishmen are the greatest though not the most unbiased travelers 
in the world. They will penetrate Africa and Australia, but one of their 
number makes the confession that few have ever attempted to explore 
the Thames to its source. Those who have are almost as much in doubt 
whether they have found it as the African explorers were regarding the 
source of the Nile. Two streams rise in the Cotswold Hills, in Glou- 
cester, and the one which has been called the Thames runs more in the 
general direction of the river, but its source is not as distant from the 
mouth as the rivulet which is called the Churn. But they forget their 
differences, like sensible streams, and join for the good of the common 
river. A few miles further on two other tributaries are received and 
the Severn's waters also flow into the Thames through a wonderful 
little canal which pierces the Cotswold Hills by means of a tunnel. The 



114 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

river here commences to earn its title of the Broad Water, running 
through a pleasant, hilljr country, with the dignity of a young man who 
has cast his first vote. Its course is toward Oxford by way of the village 
of Shifford, where King Alfred once held his parliament. Near by is a 
substantial bridge thrown across the Thames six hundred years ago. It 
is named the New Bridge and is the oldest one on the river. Numerous 
locks and weirs, with a tow path on either side, show the former impor- 
tance of the river as a navigable stream, but the line of smoke and steam 
which is frequently drawn across the neighboring landscape and the 
triumphantwhizof a train of cars are sufficient explanations of the almost 
deserted appearance of the river. 

It is peculiarly appropriate to approach the calm, stately and vener- 
able Oxford, by way of the slowly-moving Thames. The spires of its 
churches and the great university buildings give the impression, from a 
distance, that one is approaching a large city. But the university is all. 
The streets are narrow and crooked, but the noble colleges and churches 
which go to make up the university, and the quaint old houses form a 
striking scene. The distracting hum of machinery and the vexatious 
smoke of manufactories do not disturb its serenity ; but against the 
coming of the railroad, and its necessary stir, the authorities of the 
university could not plant their English feet and set their square English 
chins firmly enough. 

OXFORD. 

Before there was any England there was an Oxford. When the 
kings of the Heptarchy were fighting like crows, the university of Oxford 
was a collection of monasteries, religious and secular schools. The teach- 
ers formed an association that might settle questions of general interest, 
and the university was conceived. Alfred the Great liked to reside in 
Oxford and visit her schools, and by the ninth century the Church itself 
recognized it as a seat of learning. Bloody Queen Mary acknowledged 
its importance, also, in the persecutions which she waged against the 
Protestant lights of both Cambridge and Oxford universities. Cranmer, 
Ridley and Latimer, all fellows of Cambridge University and high in 
favor with Henry VIII., were brought to trial by the Catholic Queen 
and burned, opposite Baliol College. As long as the Church of England 
stands, to say the least, the message of brave old Latimer, Bishop of 
Worcester, will be quoted to posterity. Turning to Ridley, his fellow 
martyr, he exclaimed in homely style : " Be of good comfort. Master 
Ridley, and play the man , we shall this day light such a candle, by God's 
grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." Master Ridley, 



FROM OXFORD TO WINDSOR. II5 

the Bishop of Rochester, was as brave as he, and Archbishop Cranmer 
of Canterbury died a penitent that his mortal fears had swerved him 
from the faith he professed. The Martyrs' Memorial, which marks the 
place of execution, is a monument both to personal bravery and the 
Church of England. 

Of the twenty colleges which compose the university of Oxford, Ba- 
liol is the most democratic, refusing to admit anyone who claims any 
privilege on account of rank or wealth. Christ Church is the most mag- 
nificent and supports the greatest number of students; it is a cathedral 
as well as a college, and was founded by Henry VIII. The oldest insti- 
tution is University College, founded in the thirteenth century upon a 
school which is said to have been established by Alfred the Great. 

The governing bodies of the University are the House of Congre- 
gation, consisting of heads of colleges and halls, masters of schools, 
professors, deans, etc., etc., which grants the ordinary degrees ; the 
House of Convocation, composed of regents, which confers honorary 
degrees and fills the university offices ; the Congregation of the Univer- 
sity, including the chancellor, heads of colleges and halls, the canons of 
Christ Church College, a portion of the members of the Convocation, 
etc., etc., which body acts as a sort of Upper House to discuss and 
amend the statutes proposed by the Hebdomadal Council ; the Heb- 
domadal Council has as its members the chancellor, vice-chancellor, 
proctors, and a certain number elected from the heads of colleges and 
halls and from the House of Convocation. The chancellor, who is the 
head of the corporate body of the University, is elected for life by the 
House of Convocation, the honor being conferred upon noblemen. All 
matters of legislation originate in the Hebdomadal Council, pass to the 
Congregation of the University, and are adopted or rejected by the 
House of Convocation. 

FROM OXFORD TO WINDSOR. 

Between the counties of Oxford and Berks the river makes a bend 
and at the southern point of the loop meets the Cherwell, a stream 
from the west. In controlling the course of the Thames this was con- 
sidered quite a strategic point by the old warriors of England, and con- 
sequently they erected earthworks at this point which are still visible. 
This is the neighborhood, also, of Roman camps, the head-waters of the 
river flowing from the region of quite a system of Roman roads ; but 
south of Oxford the spots of history commence to touch more closely 
the modern times. Among the most interesting localities is Chalgrove 



Il6 THE world's fair. 

Field, where Hampden was slain. Soon, however, the beauties of the 
landscape draw one's mind from brave men and their brave ends. The 
little islands covered with trees or reeds, the wooded or grassy banks, 
with picturesque cottages and inns creeping down to the very edge of 
the sunny waters ; the mill-dams over which the bright waters foam, the 
horses and plowmen in the fields, and the absorbed angler on the shore, 
make the English landscape the restful and yet animating influence 
which it is. 

It was in this school that many of the English poets were educated, 
and even so bad-humored a wit and man as Pope could not resist the 
temptation to retire to the lovely banks of the Upper Thames, hide 
himself in a mellow old castle, forget his deformities and write transla- 
tions and pretty verses. Before your boat reaches Reading you will 
also pass a pleasant village to which Warren Hastings retired while 
Burke was thundering at him for his doings in the East. At Reading 
the Kennet flows in from the south, and upon its banks the courtly, 
scholarly and earnest Falkland fell in battle, fighting for hie King 
against the people. His home was a few miles from Oxford and he 
died not far from it. 

The waters above Reading in the estimation of Young England are 
as historical as any in the world, for here were rowed many of those 
famous university matches, the results of which are flashed over the 
Western world. It is unaccountable how those university students for 
so many years could have shot by the beauties lying along Henley 
Reach, looking only straight ahead to the stake boat. Above the old 
university course for a dozen miles the scenery is even more lovely, the 
chalky cliffs bearing upon their seamed sides thick groves of beech trees, 
the swelling hills clothed in rich verdure meeting them half way ; or 
from the low banks of either shore great trees, tangled shrubbery and 
matted reeds all bend gracefully forward in continual salutation. 

FROM WINDSOR TO LONDON. 

As the cliffs and hills and cool shadows of this charmed stretch of the 
Thames are left behind, the towers of Windsor Castle appear over the 
trees. The castle, forest and grounds form one of the most magnificent 
royal domains in the world. The buildings, which cover twelve acres, 
overlook the Thames, and from the tower twelve counties pass under the 
eye. The great park is nearly three square miles in area and the forest 
west of it is fifty-six miles in circuit. The Saxon kings loved the beauties 
of this locality. William the Conqueror built the castle, which has been 
repeatedly enlarged and several times almost rebuilt. King John dwelt at 



FROM WINDSOR TO LONDON. I I 7 

Windsor while the barons were preparing Magna Charta at Runnymede, 
and James of Scotland was a prisoner here. In the vaults of St. George's 
chapel lie the bodies of kings, queens and dukes. Prince Albert is 
buried in the beautiful park of Windsor where Queen Victoria passed 
many hours with him during their wedded life. 

On the other side of the river, standing somewhat back from its 
borders, is Eton College, a substantial-looking building which from a 
distance resembles a combined fortress, monastery and church. It was 
founded by Henry VI. four centuries and a half ago, who established 
King's College, Cambridge, at the same time. The royal plan of making 
Eton a preparatory school to King's has been followed to this day and 
provision is also made at Oxford for two of the graduates who are not 
elected for admission to Cambridge. 

A little nearer London and the Council Meadow, Runnymede is 
reached. Opposite is Magna Charta Island, where King John signed the 
instrument which was the basis of the English constitution. The barons 
and their followers camped upon the meadow within plain sight of the 
King, and a delegation carried the paper for him to sign. King John 
was aware that this meant sign or resign, and when the charter was laid 
upon a stone for his action he did not long hesitate, A rock, which is 
said to be the historic one, is preserved in the little cottage to which many 
curiosity seekers repair. 

A bend in the river between Middlesex and Surrey, as one descends 
the stream toward Kingston, is called Coway Stakes. On arriving at 
the south bank, Julius Caesar found that the Britons were drawn up on 
the opposite shore, which they had fortified by a palisade of sharpened 
stakes. There was a similar fortification in the bed of the river. But 
Caesar's legions dashed into the water, which was up to their necks, and 
surmounting all obstacles, put the enemy to flight. The Roman was 
invading the territory of the British general, Cassivelaunus, and this 
was the only point where the Thames could be crossed on foot. Past 
the house in which Garrick once resided, the palace and gardens of 
Hampton Court, past villas and villages, the river sweeps which was 
never destined to be the pride of a Southern race ; past Kingston, 
where the Saxon monarchs were crowned, the Thames washes the 
estate which Pope adorned with temple and grotto and made so 
famous that kings, statesmen and noble ladies sought him there. The 
villa is gone. A few fragments of the grotto remain. The sensitive, 
diseased poet and wit is gone, and the mother whom he cherished as 
the only one on earth he could love without reserve. The Thames 
flows by them all, and the church at Twickenham, which contains 



Il8 ' THE world's fair. 

his tomb^ may cast a shadow over its margin. The iiidcription on 
his monument proclaims that he " would not be buried in Westminster 
Abbey." 

At this point the Thames brings us near the suburban parks of 
London and the outlying villages. Having left the gracious parks around 
the pretty suburbs of Richmond and Brentford, the distant stir of the 
mighty city is almost felt in the air. 

LONDON AND "LONDON CITY." 

By entering London from the west the mighty metropolis is 
approached from its most favorable direction ; few Londoners would 
agree, however, as to the limits of their city, for the pcstoffice, the par- 
liamentary, the police and the Metropolitan Board of Works districts 
are all different. London City, officially, lies partly within the limits of 
the old Roman walls, which have disappeared. Gates were subsequently 
added to the walls, and, for many years, Temple Bar was regarded as 
the site of the ancient town's western gate, being the official boundary 
between the fashionable and magnificent West End and the city. This 
supposition has been dispelled, but the boundary remains. Memories of 
the old times are kept green by retaining such names as Newgate for 
the oldest London prison, and London Wall for a street in the northern 
part of the city. From the east the walls commenced at the Tower of 
London, which has the credit, with some, of being built by Julius Caesar, 
and they were afterwards extended along the Thames, the western point 
being Ludgate, which has long since disappeared, but Ludgate Hill 
still stands. There were seven gates when the wall was carried around 
the northern districts of the city, as is supposed, by Constantine the 
Great. 

London City is governed by the Lord Mayor and the Corporation, 
its extreme eastern and western limits being the Tower and the City of 
Westmmster, with the River Thames as its southern base. Its area is 
less than a square mile, of which 370 acres are "within the walls." 
Within this area the metropolitan police and commissioners of public 
works have no control, the city sustaining its own departments and being 
accountable to Parliament. This independent corporation, the wealthiest 
in the world, has authority for its existence in charters which were 
granted by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings and by 
Henry I. in iioo. The chief magistrate received the official title of Lord 
Mayor in 1 191. 

But when the registrar obtains his figures for the population ot 



THE FASHIONABLE WEST END. 



119 



London he does not rest satisfied with the city and its 80,000 people, 
but, as stated, includes the territory subject to the Board of Works. 
This comprises the city of Westminster and Southwark, a borough south 
of the River Thames; the Tower Hamlets and Greenwich, to the east; 
and a dozen northern and western suburbs, among which may be men- 
tioned Marylebone, Kensington and Chelsea. There are many popu- 
lous parishes in the center of London but west of the City. This is the 
London which contains 4,500,000 people and is the largest and most 
opulent city in the world. 

THE FASHIONABLE WEST END. 

In the West End are the fine squares and club-houses for which 
London is noted, and here also is the brilliant Piccadilly street in which 
so much of the wealth and fashion of England is congregated. Regent 
street, the handsomest perhaps in London, where the ladies shop and 
which promenaders of both sexes greatly frequent, crosses Piccadilly. 
Belgravia, the southern portion of the West End, is a mass of great 
squares, in which grow beautiful trees, and which are surrounded by 
mansions of nobles and merchant princes. The northern division of the 
West End is known as Tyburnia, professional men, artists, and the less 
wealthy class of merchants having their residences here. 

The outer districts of the West End are beautified, also, by the 
grandest of London's royal parks, and in pleasant weather Regent's and 
Hyde Parks, and Kensington Gardens, with their museums, palaces, 
lakes and wide drives, collect more high breeding, princely men and 
women, gorgeous and elegant equipages and costumes than can be 
shown elsewhere in the world within a like space. On the site of the 
Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, is the splendid memorial to Prince 
Albert. He is represented as seated under a canopy, the richly-carved 
and minaret-like roof terminating in a cross. The main exposures of 
the monument present a multitude of marble portraits of illustrious 
Englishmen, while at the four corners of the inclosure Europe, Asia, 
Africa and America are symbolized in stone. The Albert Hall is oppo- 
site the Memorial, and the Kensington Museum buildings near by. In 
Regent's Park are the large botanical and zoological gardens. East of 
Kensington Palace, one of the Queen's town residences and where she 
was born, are the unrivalled gardens. A bridge over a charming arti- 
ficial body of water, called the Serpentine, connects Kensington Gardens 
with those other royal grounds, Hyde Park. East of Hyde Park is 
Green Park, entered beneath a triumphal arch surmounted by an eques- 



I20 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

trian statue of Wellington. Upon the road connecting Hyde Park with 
St. James Park is Buckingham Palace, with a magnificent ball-room and 
throne-room, but an architectural eye-sore to most of the English mon- 
archs. The Queen seldom visits it. The royal receptions are usually 
held in St. James Palace, fronting the park by that name. The palace 
is at the end of Pall Mall, in which club-house thoroughfare is Marlbor- 
ough House, the residence of the Prince of Wales. 

thp: city. 



Trafalgar Square, within easy walking distance of Charing Cross 
(the official headquarters of the cab service) the Houses of Parliament, 

art galleries, c lub 
rooms, etc., besides the 
imposing statue to Nel- 
son and other works of 
art, is a favorite resort 
for pleasure seekers, 
politicians and mer- 
chants passing back 
and forth between the 
West End and the 
City. The Houses of 
Parliament consist of 
a vast structure lying 
between the Thames 
and W e s t m i n s t e r 
Abbey and having a 
river front of 900 feet. 
Its central spire and 
its belfry are each 300 
feet in height. West- 
minster hall, over 100 
feet in height, with an 
area in proportion, occupies the hall of the old royal palace where some of 
the first parliaments were held. The House of Lords is finely propor- 
tioned and gorgeously finished, containing the Queen's throne, the Prince's 
chair, the Lord Chancellor's wool-sack (a chair cushioned with wool), and 
statues of the barons who brought the charter to King John at Runny- 
mede and compelled him to sign it. If the Queen is to arrive, two 
hours before her coming the cellars underneath the House are carefully 




NOTED PICTURE OF LOT'S WIFE. 



THE CITY. 



121 



examined in fear of another gunpowder plot. The House of Commons 
is comparatively plain. Of the other vast government buildings, Somer- 
set House is perhaps the most noticeable, it being a quadrangular struct- 
ure with a river frontage of 600 feet. 

Soon after leaving Parliament street Westminster Abbey comes 
into view, with its square towers and majestic stretch of buttresses and 




PIECE OF STATUARY. 

pinnacles. Here the monarchs of England were crowned for centuries, 
and many of them buried. Clustered around the east end of the Abbey 
are several chapels, those of Henry VH. and Edward the Confessor 
being the most noticeable. Edward was the first monarch crowned in 
Westminster, and his shrine appears in the middle of his chapel. Queen 
Elizabeth and Mary Stuart have their monuments in Henry's chapel, 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



while within calling distance are the mortal parts of those souls whom 
England delights to honor. 

St. Paul's Cathedral stands upon the highest ground in the city, on 
Ludgate Hill. The old church was burned in the great London fire, 
the present cathedral being built in 1675-1710 by Sir Christopher Wren^ 
one of the world's gr^t architects. It would not, in fact, be honoring 
him too much to call him the builder of modern London, for no one 
else accomplished so much to restore it Rafter the disastrous conflagra- 
tion of 1666 ; not only was he the architect of St. Paul's, where he is 
buried, but of fifty other churches, of the Royal Exchange, the Custom 
House, the monument near the foot of London bridge commemorative 
of the fire, the Greenwich Observatory, and hospitals, colleges and pal- 
aces, which make a list fit for a directory. St. Paul's is built after St. 
Peter's, and besides being a monument to genius itself, contains memorials 
of Nelson, Dr. Johnson, Wellington, Napier and John Howard, and the 
tombs of such illustrious persons as the artists Turner and Reynolds. 

At the foot of Ludgate Hill is Fleet street, which is the Newspaper 
Row of London, and the London Times, with its foundries and tele- 
graph system, its army of employes and military precision, is printed 
not far away in Water lane. The western bounds of the Hill are at 
Temple Bar, and beyond is Lincoln's Inn Fields, a great square and 
resort for the legal profession. 

The British Museum dates from the latter part of the eighteenth 
century and the great solid building, with its columned porticoes, from 
the commencement of the nineteenth. The noble dome, which covers the 
reading room of the library is larger than St. Peter's and only a few feet 
smaller than the Pantheon. Among the other features of the library 
which have made it almost unrivalled — the national library at Paris being 
its competitor — are the collection of manuscripts and the department of 
Hebrew literature. Of greatest value in the department of antiquities 
of the Museum are, perhaps, the Egyptian and Assyrian collections. 
The collection of natural history is remarkably complete, having an only 
rival in that of the Museum of Paris, which institution, as a whole, is the 
only one in the world which compares with the British Museum. 

The centers of the city's' vast political, commercial and financial 
activity are around the Bank of England, Threadneedle street, the 
Royal Exchange, the Mansion House and the Custom House. Thames, 
Cornhill, Cheapside, Fenchurch, Leadenhall and Victoria streets are 
solidly packed with pedestrians and vehicles for nine hours of the day. 
The Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor, is connected 
with Blackfriars Bridge by Victoria street. Perhaps the most continu- 



123 



ous, the densest traffic, is between the Bank of England and the Man- 
sion House. It is said to average 60,000 persons in a day of nine 
hours. A street from Cheapside, in the heart of the city, leads to the 
Guildhall, where many of the societies of tradesmen meet. They are 
the organized voters of London, and as such are intimately connected 
with the Corporation. The organiza- 
tion of some of the guilds dates back 
a thousand years, many of them be- 
ing very wealthy and owning beauti- 
ful halls, where they give lavish en- 
tertainments. The Guildhall is used 
by those who have not their own 
place of assembly, and is the cen- 
ter of as much political life as 
the Mansion House of the Lord 
Mayor. 

The traffic over the bridges of 
the Thames, particularly over Lon- 
don Bridge, is tremendous. The 
river is tunneled, but the pressure of 
travel is so great that it is hardly 
relieved. The south side of the 
Thames is bordered by a magnifi- 
cent embankment called the Al- 
bert ; across the river is the Vic- 
toria. The Albert embankment is 
lined with stately residences and 
other buildings, but terminates 
among the manufactories of Lam- 
beth. 

The great streets of London 
generally follow the Thames, and 
the embankments, of comparatively 
recent construction, are broad 
quays along the river banks sim- 
ilar to those of Paris. The Vic- 
toria embankment runs from Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge, 
with Waterloo between. The latter is over 1,200 feet in length, 
one of the finest structures of the kind in existence, and was 
opened to the public upon the second anniversary of the battle 
of Waterloo. 




124 



THE world's fair. 



LONDON TOWER AND THE DOCKS. 



One of the most interesting of the many excursions which may be 
taken from London City in all directions, is that which terminates at the 

London and India 
docks by way of 
Tower Hill. The 
Tower Hamlets, 
east of London, and 
other suburbs in 
the vicinity, are to 
the poorer classes 
what the West End 
is to the aristoc- 
racy ; the two ex- 
tremes of London 
life may be studied 
in the two ex- 
tremes of London. 
Within sight 
of much of the pov- 
erty of London are 
the forests of masts 
and the huge bod- 
i e s of steamers, 
representing her 
ceaseless trade 
with every quarter 
of the globe. Be- 
t w e e n the great 
bridges are a score 
of steamboat piers 
for the accommo- 
dation of river pas- 
sengers. Just be- 
low London Bridge 
is the Pool where 
the coal ships or 
colliers most con- 
Port of London, 




irreofate. 



ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, HOLBORN. 

Between the Pool and Blackwell 



the 



occupied by ships of greater burden, and for the convenience of these 



LONDON TOWER AND THE DOCKS. 1 25 

giants have been constructed extensive docks and massive warehouses. 
Extensions are constantly progressing and tunnels being built to connect 
the docks on the northern bank of the Thames with those on the south- 
ern, so that eventually they will form one vast system. Below the Tower 
are St. Katharine's docks, and also on the northern shore, the London 
docks, with their extensive wine vaults, the Limestone docks, the West 
India docks, the East India docks, and the Victoria docks; on the 
southern shore the grand Surrey and Commercial docks are devoted to 
the timber and corn trades. The East India docks are at Blackwell, and 
as the shores are flat on either side of the river the greatest of English 
merchant ships which lie there appear more gigantic than they are. 

London Tower overlooks the most cosmopolitan, if not the busiest 
section of the River Thames. This historical fortress and prison is an 
inharmonious mass of towers, forts, ramparts, batteries, barracks, armories 
and other structures, covering an area of nearly 900 feet square. North- 
west of the Tower is the hill upon which the scaffold stood. Each of the 
towers included in the Tower has its particular recollections. Lady Jane 
Grey, Raleigh, Sidney, Russell, the young sons of Edward IV., and 
other ghosts, haunt them. One tower was built by William the Con- 
queror, and on one side of it is a large structure occupied as barracks 
and erected by the Duke of Wellington, who was once Constable of the 
Tower. 

Of late years the authorities have made strenuous efforts to provide 
parks, or " lungs," for the working people of the east and northeast of 
London. Victoria Park, 300 acres in extent, is one of the greatest of 
these blessings. 

We have hardly touched upon the attractions of London. If one 
should say but a dozen words about each of the 2,000 churches he would 
have written a chapter. He would commence by saying: Opposite St. 
Bartholomew's, bloody Queen Mary burned her victims at the stake ; in St. 
Saviour's, Southwark, are buried Gower, Beaumont, Fletcher and Mas- 
singer ; Temple Church, near the Bar, contains the body of poor Oliver 
Goldsmith ; the Duke of Wellington attended the fashionable St. 
George's Church, Hanover Square ; Whitfield's Chapel is where he first 
preached to a large indoor congregation ; Spurgeon's Tabernacle, Christ's 
Church (Rev. Newman Hall), and the picturesque St. Andrew's, must be 
lightly passed ; the ancient St. Giles, Cripplegate, is where the majestic 
Milton is buried, etc., etc. 

This also would be the very unsatisfactory way in which one would 
be obliged to treat the great charities and benefactors, past and present; 
the hospitals for men, women and children, for the insane, the lame, the 



I 26 THE world's fair. 

epileptic and confirmed invalids ; the universities, colleges, ragged 
schools and select schools, medical and surgical schools, libraries, 
museum^, fine art galleries and underground railways. In one word, and 
finally, there is no civilization in any part of the world of which a trace 
can not be found in London. 

WHERE PETER WORKED. 

On the south side of the river, opposite the dock district, are 
Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich. At Deptford was formerly the 
great royal ship-yard, in which Peter the Great worked at his trade. 
This is now removed to Chatham, thirty miles southeast of London. 
Adjoining the deserted yard at Deptford are the victualing establish- 
ments of the royal navy, consisting of cattle pens, slaughter houses, 
bakeries, a brewery, etc., etc., and which partially cover the former 
grounds of the mansion in which Peter resided while working for his 
empire. 

WOOLWICH AND GREENWICH. 

Woolwich really lies on both sides of the River Thames, but the 
arsenal and grounds where the ordnance of the army and navy is proved 
are on the south side. Until twenty years ago the royal dock-yard was 
located here, where it had been established for three centuries. The 
foundries and magazines, with other buildings connected with the 
arsenal, cover over one hundred acres of ground, and the famous range 
where ordnance and new guns are tried is three miles in length. Con- 
veniently situated to get the advantage of every experiment and a 
thorough, practical education is the military academy for artillery 
officers and engineers. At North Woolwich are turned out hundreds of 
miles of telegraph cables. 

Greenwich is five miles from St. Paul's, and three from London 
bridge. Since the seventeenth century the Greenwich observatory has 
been fixing the longitude for a great portion of the world. Greenwich 
time is also standard throughout England. It is a manufacturing town, 
having large yards for the building of iron steamboats , but Greenwich 
has another attraction besides its observatory, of which there is no pro- 
totype in Great Britain. The hospital for seamen is a large, quadrangu- 
lar building, containing libraries and a hall adorned with portraits of 
naval heroes and representations of naval victories, besides the regular 
offices and apartments. This institution supports thousands of British 
seamen, many of those who were formerly inmates, but not seriously 



CANTERBURY AND THOMAS A BECKET. 1 27 

incapacitated being now allowed a choice of residence. At present it con- 
tains a few hundred bed-ridden pensioners, but the bulk of the hospital is 
reserved for use in case of war. The site of the building was at one 
time occupied by the royal palace in which Queen Elizabeth, Queen 
Mary and Henry VIII. were born. 

Gravesend is the limit of the port of London. It has ship-yards and a 
church where Pocahontas Is buried. Ships leaving port get their outfits, 
provisions and clothing at Gravesend, and the Custom House ofificers 
examine vessels when they are about to enter. 

Chatham, where the royal ship-yards are, is beyond Gravesend, 
toward the sea, and Canterbury is still east of Chatham, It is a good 
point from which to sweep the whole of England, south of the Thames. 

CANTERBURY AND THOMAS A BECKET. 

From the time of St. Augustine, who received Ethelbert and his 
whole kingdom of Kent into the Church, Canterbury has been the seat 
of the highest ecclesiastic of England. From the rising to the setting 
of a single sun, ten thousand Saxons were baptized in the river Stour, 
which flows through Canterbury. This was the first formal acknowledg- 
ment of the power of the Christian religion in Great Britain, and it was 
upon this occasion that the old Saxon priest smote the images of his 
gods to see if there was really any virtue in them. He had served them 
long, he said ; they had brought nothing but misery to him, and he was 
a willing convert to the new faith. Though the great cathedral at Can- 
terbury has suffered several times by fire, and has been beautified during 
the present century, it is in substantially the same condition as it was 
when completed in the twelfth century. Henry IV. and the Black Prince 
have monuments in the cathedral. The city contains other interesting 
memorials of the introduction of Christianity into England. The immense 
Augustinian monastery, so long used as a brewery, is now a missionary 
college, having been restored to something of its former appearance. 

It was before the high altar of the magnificent cathedral at Canter- 
bury, that Thomas a Becket, the Primate of England, was murdered 
because he pronounced the Church greater than the King ; for which deed 
King Henry II. did penance by allowing the monks to lay the lashes upon 
his own bare back, besides erecting several castles throughout the king- 
dom and doing other useless things. Now, beyond Dover, near the coast, 
is a little old town, with middle-century churches and houses. Once it 
was an important sea-port and furnished the king with many a vessel for 
defense of England. There is now quite a tract of land between it and 



128 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

the sea. Hythe was, furthermore, a smugglers' port, and one of their 
picturesque lighthouses, with a blunt, square tower, rises innocently from 
the middle of the town, a legitimate store underneath, and an honest 
family of Kent for inmates. It was about a mile from this town that the 
Knights met who stabbed Thomas a Becket before the high altar of 
Canterbury. Saltwood Castle, where the conspirators agreed upon their 
villainy, was claimed as Church property by Thomas a Becket. Only a 
portion of the structure, looking from such a romantic situation 
upon the Channel and the coast of France, is left to tell of its 
former strength and magnificence. Its deep windows, groined roofs 
and rich carvings are built into a farm house, some of its large 
upper rooms being occupied by laborers. 

DOVER AND HASTINGS. 

The road from Chatham to Canterbury is delightful, and passes on 
to a pleasant little town, which once had a good harbor, and was, with 
Hythe, one of the powerful so called " Cinque Ports," or those lying 
opposite France which were accorded particular privileges in return for 
which they furnished whole fleets of ships to humble the people just 
across the way. Sandwich's harbor, however, commenced to' fill up 
with sand and in an unlucky day a vessel sunk at its entrance and com- 
pleted the blockade. 

Dover is the next Cinque Port, going down the coast, and it still 
enjoys that distinction, it being only twenty miles from France and 
the most convenient port of landing from the continent. Both Normans 
and French have laid violent hands upon it, and Caesar would have 
landed his invaders there, but the shore was too abrupt, and he entered 
England from a point a little further west. The Saxons looked upon it 
as the key to Kent and the Englishmen as the key to the kingdom. 
The Castle of Dover, posted upon a great chalk cliff guarding the town, 
contains a Roman watchtower, which is one of the most ancient pieces 
of military work in Great Britain, and exhibits also both Saxon and 
Norman styles of architecture. 

Upon the borders of what was then a forest, not far from Dover, 
another adventurer in arms landed from the French coast, nearly a 
thousand years from Caesar's time. The battle which gave England to 
the Normans, however, was not fought at Hastings, but six miles west 
of the port. Two years afterwards William the Conqueror founded 
Battle Abbey, which yet stands, a rugged stone structure with four 
central towers and two unequal wings. 



THE CHALKY CLIFFS AND OLD FORESTS. 1 29 

THE CHALKY CLIFFS AND OLD FORESTS. 

The physical peculiarity of these extreme southeastern districts 
of the country is the chalky formation of the land, which throws it into 
two pleasing series of undulations called the North and the South 
Downs, which extend to the coast, the former beyond Canterbury to 
North Foreland (the extremity of Southeastern England) and the latter 
to Beachy Head, the grandest of the southern chalk cliffs. The Downs 
inclose the Weald, a rough plain from which geologists have drawn val- 
uable specimens of sea monsters, amphibians and ferns. Ironstone was 
also found, and Briton^ Roman and Saxon are believed to have worked 
in it. In the middle ages iron manufacturing prospered in the Weald, 
or forest, and the Sussex iron works were called upon not only by 
neighboring hamlets and villas, but by London itself. Cinder Hill, 
Furnace Place, Hammer Ponds, with the forest gone and the manufac- 
tories transferred to such coal districts as Birmingham, tell of past 
industry and the cause of its decadence. A ridge runs through the 
center of the Weald, from which its fertile and flowery surface, roughly 
broken and with a fir tree left here and there, may be viewed as far as 
the Downs on either side. In a little town on the northern edge of the 
Weald, Richard Cobden, the free-trader, was born, and Sir Charles 
Lyell, the geologist, passed his early days there. Farther west is Leith 
Hill, the highest point of land in Southeastern England, from whose 
summit can be indistinctly traced a varied and charming landscape 200 
miles in extent. A ramble through the Surrey hills would be well 
repaid by the charming country residences which peep out so unexpect- 
edly from groves of beech and oak trees. Then there are cool dales, 
bright hills, and pleasant lanes and villages to enjoy. If a ridge or an 
elevation has such a queer name as the Hog's Back it must be walked, 
for such brands were placed there by the early Saxons, and their homely 
words are stamped upon many hills and vales of this region. 

EPSOM SALTS AND RACES. 

The Weald and Surrey hills also bring one within about twenty 
miles of London, and upon the northern edge of this varied landscape 
is a representative town of England — old and yet new; for although 
the Epsom salts were known two centuries ago, the race-course is less 
than half of that age. Epsom is on the edge of the North Downs and 
it is on the Downs themselves that the great race-course is located. The 
races for the Derby stakes are the most exciting which take place in 
England. Epsom seemed once destined to become a famous health 

9 



130 THE world's fair. 

resort, the salts which were obtained from evaporating the waters of her 
mineral springs becoming so famous that the name Epsom salt is now 
applied to a like mineral obtained from the sea, from quarries in France, 
the Mammoth Cave in this country, and many other localities. But 
the races overshadowed the salts and during the week succeeding 
Whitsuntide a hundred thousand people pour out of London and gather 
from the surrounding country to see the famous English runners. 

THE FOREST OF DEATH. 

Just beyond the South Downs is the New Forest, in whose dense 
shades a few timid deer still wander, and wild ponies and swine find their 
homes there. It is the largest and most picturesque tract of wooded 
land in England, the noblest vantage ground being a knoll upon which 
is a country house marking the site of the keep from which the Red King 
went forth to hunt for the last time ; from this point cool avenues stretch 
over vast reaches of the forest, and open to view the refreshing waters 
of the Channel and the distant Isle of Wight. The spot where Rufus 
was found pierced with arrows is marked by a stone appropriately 
inscribed and protected by an iron casing. Beeches and oak predomi- 
nate among the monarchs of the forest, and in the oldest portion of it 
two of the " twelve apostles" — gigantic trees — still stand. In the very 
center of this primeval scene is a little town, from which many excursions 
are made- Groves whose gnarled sentries and massive groups make 
one dream of the Druids and their sacrifices are separated by fertile strips 
and great farms. Elegant mansions and pretty villages are both scat- 
tered through the Forest and stand around its edges as if enjoying its 
great repose and varied aspects. 

The New Forest was one of the sixty-eight royal domains enjoyed 
by William the Conqueror and his court, and when he burned the peo- 
ple's churches and drove the worshipers away, the country was well set- 
tled. The persecuted peasants and foresters looked grimly on while 
one son was gored to death by a royal stag ; another son, the Red King, 
mysteriously met his fate, and a grandson was accidentally shot to death 
by an arrow 

THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 

The tourist can not do better, if he comes to England to see 
inspiring sights and breathe invigorating air, than to follow one of those 
avenues through the New Forest which lead toward Southampton 
Water and the English Channel. It is a short sail to the shores of the 
Isle of Wight, with its bold cliffs of chalk, its dark sea caves, its beauti- 



TO EDDVSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. I3I 

ful waves of land, its sheltered vales and soft inland breezes, and the 
resort of literary men with temperaments ranging from Tennyson to 
Hugo. The yachts are more apt to frequent the Solent, the strait 
between the forest and the island. The Palace of Osborne rises serenely 
from a gradual elevation, a graceful stretch of wooded land coming down 
to the water's edge, like the royal deer themselves whose sleek forms adorn 
the grassy slopes. Thousands of British subjects hover around the beau- 
tiful place as around the memory of Prince Albert. In the vicinity of Os- 
borne House, at East Cowles, Dr. Arnold of Rugby was born, and this 
might be a question hard to answer : Do more Englishmen worship at the 
shrine of the late Prince Consort than at the shrine of Dr. Arnold of Rugby ? 

A stroll through the interior of the island develops many localities of 
interest. In the downs have been found subterranean burial passages 
and regular Saxon grounds. Near Newport is a ruined fortress called 
Carisbrooke castle, where Charles I. was imprisoned after his flight from 
Hampton Court, and near the castle is a Roman villa and the remains 
of a costly pavement. The children of the king were also imprisoned 
there, the Princess Elizabeth dying in the castle and being buried at 
Newport church. 

The chalk downs which make the backbone of the Isle of Wight 
extend from Culver Cliffs in the east to the Needles in the west. Culver 
Cliffs terminate in a stupendous headland of chalk called the White 
Dove, while the Needles might have once been as massive, but are now 
worn away, so that they appear as pillars of chalk. A second and a higher 
range of chalk hills is formed in the southern part of the island and ex- 
pands into a broad promontory, whose scarred, furrowed and stern face 
is the Undercliff. For several miles it is evident that immense slides of 
land once fell at the base of the exposed cliff, having been loosened by 
the many springs ; these gradually subsided into a series of terraces, 
which now appear as a long rock garden, in which grow clumps of trees 
and a profusion of wild flowers, and whose coast line is sometimes broken 
by sunny bays and valleys. This district of the island is a favorite resort 
for invalids, and notwithstanding that many go there in the last stages 
of consumption the figures of the registrar-general prove that its death rate 
is actually the lowest in the kingdom. Railway communication has been 
opened between the various health resorts, Newton, the capital, and other 
towns, 

TO EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. 

In skirting along the sea shore, from opposite the Isle of Wight, the 
first point of interest is old Portsmouth, with a great royal dock-yard 



132 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

and fortifications. Even, as early as Alfred's time vessels sailed from 
this port to defeat the Sea Kings. Then we visit Exeter, the ancient 
capital of the West Saxons, and once strongly fortified, but taken by 
Dane and Norman. Before the Saxons came it is believed to have been 
a Briton town. Northeast of the city, on a hill, is the castle in which 
the West Saxon kings resided, and within it are large squares, a Nor- 
man cathedral of rich and massive appearance, and numerous educational 
institutes. The city is on the River Exe, a few miles from the Channel. 
And beyond is Plymouth, thriving and handsome, with a naval dock- 
yard, arsenal and productive fisheries, receiving its water supply from 
the moor of the River Dart, thirty miles distant. That dreary tract of 
swamps and rocks, and granite hills, and Druidical altars, should be 
approached from the north in order to thoroughly saturate the traveler 
with gloom, and a detour will therefore be made from the Channel by 
way of Bristol. 

A few miles south of the entrance to Plymouth Sound is the Eddy- 
stone lighthouse, on a reef, which has been photographed and described 
more often than any other similar structure in the world ; but that we 
may entertain, like the father who tells the same story time and time 
again to an ever-attentive audience, we will remark that the building of the 
last Eddystone lighthouse might form material for a romance, and that 
the waves of the channel have several times broken the thick plate-glass 
m its lantern, nearly seventy feet above the average sea level. 

FROM THE NEW FOREST, INLAND. 

One of the most remarkable remains of antiquity in the world are 
those imperfect circles of huge monoliths, but still traceable, which for 
many years have drawn thousands of antiquarians to Stonehenge, in 
Salisbury Plain, Southern Wiltshire, north of the New Forest. Even 
though the temple has been restored beyond reasonable doubt, it is still 
uncertain whether it was erected by the Druids, was a Temple of the Sun 
or a monument in honor of the dead. One legend ascribes it to the last 
of the British kings, who, with the assistance of the magician Merlin, 
built it in memory of 460 Britons who were murdered by Hengist the 
Saxon. 

Northwest of the New Forest, in the same county of Wilts, is 
Savernake Forest, said to be the only one in England belonging to a 
subject. " It is especially remarkable for its avenues of trees. One, of 
magnificent beeches, is nearly four miles in length, and is intersected at 
one point of its course by three separate walks, or forest vistas, placed 



ALONG BRISTOL CHANNEL. 1 33 

at such angles as, with the avenue itself, to command eight points of 
the compass. The effect is unique and beautiful, the artificial character 
of the arrangement being amply compensated by the exceeding luxuri- 
ance of thickset trees and the soft loveliness of the verdant flowery 
glades which they inclose. The smooth, bright foliage of the beech is 
interspersed with the darker shade of the fir, while towering elms and 
wide-spreading oaks diversify the line of view in endless, beautiful 
variety. At one point a clump of trees will be reached — the veterans 
of the forest, with moss-clad trunks and gnarled, half-leafless branches — 
the chief being known as the King Oak, but sometimes called the 
Duke's, from the Lord Protector Somerset, with whom this tree was a 
favorite." 

ALONG BRISTOL CHANNEL. 

Bath and Bristol are in our way beyond the forests of Wiltshire, but 
it is the orderly way to first visit the picturesque spots in Somersetshire, 
which command Bristol Channel and the south of Wales, and which 
gradually merge into the vast moors of Devonshire, the wilds of Corn- 
wall, the adamant cliffs of Land's End, and finally the very prom- 
ontory itself, which lies prone at their feet, defying the incessant shock 
of two seas. The little village of Cheddar is not far from Bristol, and in 
its neighborhood is much of the most striking of that transition scenery 
which connects the southern and the southwestern sections of England. 
The Mendips is a fantastic ridge of rocks, massive at the base and broken 
into graceful shapes above, the scant soil which it bears giving life to 
every creeping thing (in the vegetable world), and to radiant wild roses 
and other flowers. The caves are numerous and mysterious, some of 
the passages extending for long distances underground. We are now 
in the region of John Locke's birthplace and of the philanthropic labors 
of Mrs. Hannah More, while farther to the southwest is the marshy, 
woody country where King Alfred bided his time to drive the Danes 
from the land. The site of the neatherd's cottage, where the King let 
the cakes burn, while sorrowing and scheming, is approximated by a 
small stone pillar. 

KING ARTHUR'S LAND. 

On the shores of Cornwall and from Channel to Channel the legends 
of good King Arthur are thick as the great rocks which stand out to sea. 
The slaty and granite cliffs oppose themselves to the growing fury of the 
sea and form a fitting bulwark to the country which constituted the last 
stronghold of the Celts of England. In Cornwall, tradition places the 



134 'i"HE WORLDS FAIR. 

last great battle in which he fought, which also represents him as being 
borne from the battle-field mortally wounded and being buried at Glas- 
tonbury. It is further reported that by order of Henry II. his tomb was 
opened and the bones and good sword of the monarch were found. 
Arthur's Court is placed on the River Usk, in Southern Wales, where he 
lived with his beautiful wife. The scenes of his doubtful conflicts cover 
England from Lancaster, Bath and Portsmouth almost to Land's End. 

South of the Mendip Hills, on the River Brue, is Glastonbury Abbey 
reputed to have been founded by Joseph of Arimathsea, and the scene of 
the labors of St. Patrick and St, Augustine. Of the great church and its 
five chapels there yet remain three large crypts where Arthur, the early 
kings of England and founders of the English Church, were buried. A 
little westward from the ruin stands the beautiful chapel of St, Joseph 
of Arimathaea. Glastonbury was the reputed scene of St. Dunstan's 
conflict with the Devil, in which the Evil One, who came to tempt him 
from his forge and his cell, was seized by the nose with a pair of red-hot 
pincers. 

A LITERARY LAND. 

In the charming Quantock Hills, not far away, are treasured mem- 
ories of the home life of Sidney Smith, Coleridge and Wordsworth, 
Toward the west and Bristol Channel, stretch a greater range than the 
Quantocks, and if one ascends their heights the Welsh mountains may 
be dimly seen across the waters, while the land view is as majestic as any 
in the west of England, Famous watering places along this coast are a 
continual invitation to rest and not to make sight-seeing so tiresome a 
business. There are also many modest ones, not the less charming for 
being so. "Westward Ho !" is one of the bold kind, receiving its name 
from one of Charles Kingsley's novels — the one which Humboldt admired 
for its sublime description of South American forests which he had seen 
but Kingsley had not. A few miles of an appetizing walk finds one before 
a quaint village, buried in a wooded hillside — just throwing out a 
hesitating stone pier into a small bay, to let the world know that it is 
there. This is Clovelly, Kingsley's early home, and his first and last love, 
A little farther on is Hartland Point, a small grassy head of land, a few 
feet across, which is said to have an exact counterpart on the Welsh 
coast directly opposite. 

DREARY DARTMOOR. 

A direct and depressing contrast to the hills and downs of Southern 
England and the Isle of Wight, to diversified wealds and forests, are 



ROCKS AND FLOWERS. I35 

the dreary, grim moors of Southern Devonshire. The mossy, soggy 
moors are broken into many jagged outlines by great masses of granite, 
and numerous streams descend from the heights to the River Dart, 
which flows into the Channel. In its upper regions Dartmoor is so deso- 
late that when one first enters its solitudes his imagination might well 
delude him into the belief that some unfriendly power had placed him in 
some of the rocky deserts of Southwestern Africa, hundreds of miles 
from the coasts ; but as he follows a stream through the moor, and down 
its sloping borders toward the lowlands and the valley of the Dart, the 
sweet woods and dales and sunlit villages which greet his tired eyes, 
refresh his nature and bring back the bright side of life. 

ROCKS AND FLOWERS. 

The change from Devon to Cornwall may be over a great railway 
viaduct which spans the River Tamar. A more impressive approach is 
from the sea by way of Plymouth Sound. Here the Tamar presents a 
majestic appearance, and it is difficult to believe that it has its rise only 
sixty miles away. But whether you enter Cornwall by rail, on foot or 
by water, a great difference is at once noticed in the character of the 
country from that of Devon. With the exception of the moor country 
Devonshire is a softly outlined, fertile region, but suddenly as England 
gets ready for a final contest with the Western seas, she throws off her 
pleasing drapery and opposes to the elements a stern front — mostly 
ponderous granite and steely slate. The trees so nearly disappear 
that the natives of Devon say that the Cornish people have not enough 
timber to make a coffin. On some of the steep hills are a few stunted 
oaks, but, to draw a parallel in order to save a geological explanation, 
Cornwall is where England's backbone of hills runs down into the tail 
and therefore the appendage was not clad in rich mouldy soil, or the flesh 
of the land. The valleys which lie between the black heights of Corn- 
wall are, however, clothed with as green a verdure as can be found in 
England, and the orchards, gardens and farms thus sheltered seem, from 
their surroundings, more beautiful and more fruitful than they really 
are. "In various parts of the country, but always near the sea shore, 
we are astonished at finding in the front gardens of the houses ornamen- 
tal plants, which remain out of doors all the year and do not belong at 
all to the general flora of England. Myrtles, laurels, fuchsias and pom- 
egranates attain a remarkable size, flourish bravely in the open air and 
form hedges, clumps and fragrant screens which elegantly adorn the 
windows and walls." 



136 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

The effect of the Gulf Stream upon the western coasts of Cornwall 
is to make the seasons in this extremity of the island more forward than 
in any other locality. So that while frost is king in other parts of Eng- 
land, at the holiday season, the warmed and sheltered spots of Cornwall 
are bringing forth flowers, vegetables, bees and birds. Vegetation has 
been found more advanced in Southwestern Cornwall than in Northern 
Italy, so that this locality has been called the winter kitchen garden of 
London. Many of the early vegetables which reach the markets of the 
Metropolis come from Cornwall, and in nearly every town there is a cot- 
tage gardening society for the encouragement of this branch of agricul- 
ture. 

HOUSES AND MINES. 

Returning again to the stern side of Cornwall (and that, after all, 
is the one which is forced upon the world — it has to look for the 
flowers) the architecture of the old towns is massive and rugged. Cot- 
tages and even pig pens are built of blocks of granite, of which a castle 
might be proud. Often the stone is left in the rough, so that the beau- 
tiful colors and sparkling crystals make a diversified and striking picture. 
Frequently, however, their picturesqueness is spoiled by common coats 
of whitewash. The interior of one of these cottages is described thus : 
"A single ground-floor room serves at once as kitchen, dining and draw- 
ing-room. A wide open chimney, without a grate, proves that it was not 
originally intended to burn coals. Combustibles formerly in use were 
roots, prickly furze and dried turf, which when raised in slabs forms a 
species of peat. A wooden or stone bench placed in the interior of the 
chimney serves as the family seat during the cold winter evenings. 
The laborers frequently obtain from the farmer their supply of gorse 
and dry grass, on condition of returning him the ashes. A deal table 
without a cloth, but carefully scrubbed, receives the coarse and substan- 
tial dishes which have been cooked in front of the fire on a hot plate of 
iron. The whole family sit around this table on massive benches gen- 
erally fastened to the wall." Other cottages are more comfortably fur- 
nished and, even in secluded places near the tin and copper mines, will 
sometimes be seen quite elaborate stone structures, or houses of modest 
proportions, supplied with all the interior decorations which prosperous 
proprietors could wish to enjoy. 

The mines are not radically different from those worked in this 
country, except that the machinery is often more crude and there are 
many chambers which run under the sea. The most famous subterra- 
nean mine is the Botallack, some of its oalleries running more than half a 



HOUSES AND MINES. 137 

mile under the stormy waves and at places approaching so near the bed 
of the sea that the heavy rocks can be heard rolling and grinding above. 
Near Penzance a mine was worked for many years whose mouth was not 
in the dark cliffs or moors of the coast, but in a deep ocean bay. The 
upper part of the shaft was a caisson, which rose a dozen feet above the 
level of the sea, and the water which trickled from the ocean into the 
mine was pumped out by an engine which stood on the shore over 700 
feet away. Pipes which were carried along a platform connected the 
mine with the engine, but the connection was severed by a storm-driven 
A^essel, and, on account of the heavy expense already incurred, the bold 
■enterprise was abandoned. 

The mines of Cornwall are, some of them, located amid green 
valleys and farms ; others have bare hills and moors for their surround- 
ings, and great rocks, in mysterious forms, lie near them. If there is 
any specially remarkable or weird formation, there are two explanations 
open — the wonder may be attributed to the Druids, to the Devil, or to 
the Archangel Michael, who (the last) is the patron of the coast. The 
headquarters of the Archangel is supposed to be the rocky St. Michael's 
Mount, which lies adjacent to the Land's End district, and, like its mate 
off the coast of Normandy, is peninsula or island, according to the tide. 
It is well worth climbing for the magnificent view of sea and land 
obtained from its summit. Historically, it is supposed to be one of the 
islands to which the ancient Britons bore the tin in their boats, at high 
water, and in their chariots, at low water, the Phoenician ships carry- 
ing the precious metal to Tyre and Sidon, from whence it may have 
gone into the bronzes of Assyria and Egypt. On the mainland tin 
mines have been discovered, which are little more than burrows — 
those presumably worked by the Britons. 

Nearly midway between the eastern bounds of Cornwall and Land's 
End is one of the most remarkable districts of England for the quarry- 
ing of the kaolin, or fine clay, from which the wonderful porcelain ware 
of the country is made. The deposits result from the decomposition of 
feldspar, thus giving the clay a peculiarly pure and white appearance. In 
some cases the substance has to be dug out and disintegrated by the 
action of running water. Then by being received into a series of tanks 
the finer particles are at length deposited. After the water has evapor- 
ate d or been drawn off, the pure white deposit soon hardens so that it 
can be cut with a spade into cakes and carried off to sheds, or the sur- 
rounding hills to further harden. This is often the work of women who 
appear in white costumes, bonnets, wide sleeves and aprons, and bear 
away the gleaming porcelain substance which is white as snow. There 



138 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



are harder deposits of kaolin which are blasted like stone, the bulk of 
the product being- conveyed in carts to the nearest port and shipped to 
Staffordshire, which is in Central England and also the center of the 
pottery manufactures. 

AMONG MINERS AND FISHERMEN. 

A miner seldom appears to notice either the beauty or the barren- 
ness of his surroundings. ..The life is essentially a sad and an anxious 
one, the world over, and the Cornish native seems naturally of a more 
sombre, but not desponding disposition, than any other nationality ; the 
Cornish giant who works in the mines is intelligent and proud, but not 




m^^m, 



FISH SALE IN CORNWALL. 

boorish. When at home he cultivates his flowers and vegetables in 
summer and, if he lives on the coast, ventures out upon the sea to catch 
his winter supply of fish with as much confidence as though the water, 
not the land, were his element. 

Although girls and women are not employed in the mines as 
frequently as in former years the practice is still common in Cornwall. 
Their work is to break and prepare the mineral, and although their 
labors have a tendency to make them far too masculine, their figures are 
often perfectly developed and they are noble specimens of womanhood 



A DEAD LANGUAGE. 1 39 

and girlhood. Both they and the daughters of the sea are fond of rib- 
bons, pretty veils and lockets, and although the granite Cornish men 
protest, they know in their rough hearts that they love to see the bright 
flowers among the rocks. On Sunday the flowers appear particularly 
fresh. 

Yet Sunday in Cornwall is as John Wesley would wish it to be. Old 
and young are dressed in their cleanest, and their best includes silks and 
laces. But whether by miners or fishermen, Sunday is observed as a 
holy day, and some of them will exhibit, as an evidence that they had 
need to reform, various circles and groups of stones which were once 
ball-playing men and dancing girls. Traces of the first Methodist revi- 
val which Wesley led among the manufacturing and mining districts of 
England are yet observed in Cornwall, where he met with the greatest 
success. Thousands of the Cornish miners were both converted and re- 
formed. The work did not end there, but to this day, the Wesleyans 
and the Methodists are the strong sects of the country 

The actual toilers of the sea are seen in their most characteristic at- 
tires when the boats have returned to port laden with their precious 
freights. The wives are there to meet their husbands and usually several 
hawkers are on hand, as soon as anybody, to purchase for the markets. 
One of their most common vehicles is a truck, to which is fastened an 
immense basket. If the place is a considerable village there is a long 
line of trucks along the beach, and the buyers stand on rocks or jetties, 
with whips in hand, examine the contents of the boats, which are drawn 
up along the pier, and, in a stentorian voice, shout out their "highest 
figure." "Women with bent backs loaded with a dorser called a cowl, 
doubtless because some resemblance was found between it and a monk's 
cowl, bear the enormous loads of fish from the boats to the beach. All 
the people push and elbow each other, with an immense quantity of talk- 
ing, performed in that singing voice peculiar to Cornwall." 

A DEAD LANGUAGE. 

The voice is peculiar, and some of the long faces, black hair and 
large noses and mouths are not English ; the language, however, is get- 
ting to be almost identical with the English, although the majority of 
the Cornish people were once Celts. Until the close of the seventeenth 
century they spoke their primitive language, those who lived nearest 
Land's End clinging to the dear old dialect with the grimmest determina- 
tion. There is something almost as pathetic in the struggle of a people 
to keep their native language in the world as of a dying race to struggle 



I40 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

against extermination. A Cornish clergyman wlio taught the Word not 
more than fifty miles from Land's End preached the last sermon in Cel- 
tic in about 1687. As a spoken language the Cornish may be considered 
devoured by the English. Many rocks and promontories retain their 
ancient names, and a phrase or a few words will occasionally crop out 
in familiar discourse between Cornish miners and fishermen ; but as the 
English have so crowded their way into Cornwall that there is little pure 
Celtic blood, so it is likely that the Celtic dialect of Cornwall is dead 
beyond resurrection. The most important written remains of the tongue 
are deposited in the Cottonian library of the British Museum. Sir 
Robert Cotton, an English antiquarian, made a valuable collection of 
ancient manuscripts during the early portion of the seventeenth century, 
obtaining among other curiosities a vocabulary of the Cornish-Celtic 
which is still preserved. 

Returning toward Bristol and Bath by way of the northern coast of 
Southwestern England, the formations of the cliffs are generally of a 
slaty texture. After leaving these two cities, up the River Severn 
we pass into an imaginary division of the empire called Educational 
and Ecclesiastical England. The Thames bounds it on the south 
and Shakespeare's Avon, extended to the North Sea, is its northern 
boundary. 

BRISTOL AND BATH. 

These were Roman stations on the great military road from London 
to Wales. Both cities were towns of the Britons before the Romans 
invaded the island. At Bath coins, vases and baths, and remains of a 
temple have been found, but within modern times the hot springs have 
made it famous. Bristol, on the contrary, at the head of the Channel by 
that name, stood next to London for many years. But the metropolis 
built the West India docks, and drew the monoply of the trade from 
Bristol, and Liverpool, from its position nearer the best coal and iron 
fields, usurped her supremacy as one of the most important manufactur- 
ing centers of England. Yet Bristol remains a great city. 

SHAKESPEARE'S AVON. 

Bristol and Bath are on the Avon, but it is not Shakespeare's 
stream. That river branches off at Tewkesbury, where the party of the 
Red Roses triumphed over the White, and flows gently toward the cas- 
tle of the gigantic Earl of Warwick, who fell in battle a few weeks 
previous to the final defeat of his army. 

The River Avon is a branch of the Severn, and where it first enters 



SHAKESPEARE S AVON. 



141 



Warwickshire, the quiet country town of Stratford rests upon its banks. 
The house where Shakespeare was born is a two-story stone building, with 
antique-looking gables fronting the street. In the room where he is said 
to have been born is one of the many portraits of the poet, and the walls 
and window panes bear traces of Scott's and Wordsworth's admiration, 
while the visitors' book, which has been removed from the house, is filled 
with sentiments and autographs of statesmen, poets and novelists. Back 
of the house is a garden once crowded with old English flowers. About a 
mile away is the cottage of Anne Hathaway; a long, straggling, simple 
cottage, with an irregular roof and rough doors and windows. Man and 
wife, genius and common clay, are buried in the Gothic church approached 
through such a majestic avenue of limes. The Avon runs but a short 
distance from the walls. Up the river a few miles are Kenilworth and 
Warwick castles. Kenilworth Castle is a grand ruin, covered with ivy 
and banked in foliage. Tradition connects it with the romances of 
King Arthur, and history with the gallantries of the Earl of Leicester to 
Queen Elizabeth, his sovereign having presented the castle to him. For 
seventeen days tilts and tournaments, dramatic representations, ban- 
quets, songs and dances succeeded each other, during the most famous 
of his entertainments in honor of the Queen. But now the walls are 
broken and little birds flit and chirp among the weeds, vines and rocks 
wiinin the grand banqueting hall. 

Warwick Castle, on the contrary, is well preserved for an old country 
seat. It is the principal residence of the Earls of Warwick, situated on 
the banks of the Avon. The approach is a winding road cut through 
the solid rock, and the castle itself is on a rocky elevation forty feet 
high. The pictures, specimens of armor, tapestries, inlaid furniture, and 
interior decorations are interesting and elegant, and the gardens without 
are magnificent. The trees are of most stately proportions, some of 
them being from Lebanon. The visitor who comes to the castle will be 
expected to receive — at least with an open mind — all the stories about the 
mighty Guy, Earl of Warwick, who slew so many people that he retired 
with the blues to a dismal cave. There he lived for thirty years, and 
Guy's Cliff can be shown to prove it ! The giant's porridge pot, which 
holds 1 20 gallons, is on exhibition at the castle, as well as the rib of a 
mighty cow which the Earl killed on Dunsmore Heath. 

While speaking of celebrated localities, it should be remembered 
that Rugby Grammar School is fifteen miles above Warwick Castle, on 
the Avon. Foot-ball and cricket are still being played, and the same 
manly discipline is maintained as when thousands of American youth 
were devouring " School Days at Rugby." The chapel of the school con- 



142 THE world's fair. • 

tains a monument to Dr. Arnold, the revered head-master. But we 
must hurry eastward, beyond the Avon. 

A SECOND HOLLAND. 

Much of the country which Hes between Cambridge and the Wash — 
the arm of the North Sea which comes over the great hump of South- 
eastern England — was once aland of swamps. Most of the land has been 
reclaimed and drained, but it is still a dreary region covered with rank 
grass and reeds, intersected with ditches, canals and streams, and boast- 
ing, in places, a farm house or struggling village. Game is still abun- 
dant, despite the disappearance of so much favorite water, and between 
sportsmen in summer and merry skaters in winter the land is the most 
dreary looking of the two elements. In the days when the flat grass 
and reed lands were the bottoms of lakes and marshes and the elevated 
points, the islands, great abbeys were built upon these beautiful, secluded 
spots. Their ruins of walls, towers and gigantic arches are the most 
interesting features of the country. Some of them go back to early 
Saxon times, the Crowland Abbey having been devastated by the Danes 
and nearly all the inmates massacred, 

"All the islands in the great inland sea appear to have been settled 
by recluses. They had nothing to look out upon but ' a sea in winter 
without waves, and in summer a dreary mud swamp.' Each island had 
its duck decoys and the wild fowl abounded to such an extent that 3,000 
ducks have been taken by one of these in a day. [An English duck 
story.] Stilts were used by the inhabitants of the Fens, as they are 
now in the low lands of Brittany and Normandy, to spy out game ; and 
the Fenlanders were, as might be expected, subject to all kinds of low 
fevers and ague. Chatteris, Soham, St. Ives and other places that are 
now considerable country towns, appear as little islands in the sea where 
all now is rich farming land." 

The former extent of this old inland sea, or marsh, was about two 
thousand square miles. The Romans had attempted to save the country, 
and their dikes along the sea coast, or the Wash, are traceable in some 
sections. The early English tried to drain the country and finally 
called in the aid of the Dutch. James I. employed Sir Cornelius Ver- 
muyden, who brought Dutch workmen with him, and his countrymen 
did most of the work. The channels of the rivers which flowed through 
the country were deepened and their mouths cleared so that there 
would be a free passage and a good current to the sea. When the 
English Admiral Blake defeated the Dutch, some of the prisoners were 



CATHEDRAL CITIES. I43 

set to work draining the fens. Other Hollanders continued in the 
same course, and some of them became settlers. The result is that 
many words and faces which are found in the Fen country are unmistak- 
ably Dutch. 

CATHEDRAL CITIES. 

The old religious edifices are not all in ruins, however. On the 
reclaimed sea, called Bedford Level, is the old city of Ely with a very 
ancient cathedral. The cathedral at Peterborough was founded by the 
King of Mercia in the seventh century and grandly combines the Norman 
and the early English in its architecture ; for the first church was des- 
troyed by the Danes. Catharine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII., is 
buried here; and so once was Mary, Queen of Scots, but her bones were 
removed to Westminster Abbey. Lincoln is also a town hoary with 
age but alive with manufactories and contains one of the finest cathedrals 
in the kingdom, with three towers and that hearty old bell, the Great 
Tom of Lincoln. There is furthermore the splendid structure at Norwich 
which was founded in the eleventh century. The town flourished in the 
time of Edward the Confessor. Fragments of its ancient wall still sur- 
round it. Norwich gave the language also a common noun. The 
Flemings who early settled in it used to send to the village of Worsted, 
a few miles distant, for a kind of yarn spun from long wool. These 
.manufacturers of Norwich called it worsted. Harriet Martineau was 
born in Norwich, her parents being French refugees. 

CAMBRIDGE. 

Cambridge is also in the reclaimed country of Southeastern England, 
It was a famous seat of learning as early as Oxford, but, if anything, has 
shown a greater leaning towards aristocracy. The students are at the 
present time divided into classes according to their social rank and the 
amount of tuition they pay. The noblemen pay ;^50 caution money, 
and are the highest, while the poorest class of students, the sizars, con- 
tribute but ^10. Formerly the position of the sizars was humiliating, 
but of late years there has been a great reform in this particular. No 
one who is not a member of the Church of England can take the degree 
of B. A. The most famous of the colleges which form the university is 
Trinity, with which the names of Newton and Milton are intimately 
associated. The library contains manuscripts in both the handwritings 
of these diverse geniuses. Connected with the university are botanical 
gardens and museums, and a fine observatory. Every institution has a 
superb building, the appliances being on a scale which could direct the 



144 



THE world's fair. 



minds of such scholars as Chaucer, Bacon, Harvey, Spenser, Milton, 
Dryden, Newton and Pitt. Of the architectural poems the Gothic 
chapel of King's College is the grandest and most beautiful. Of the 
buildings Queen's College is the most venerable in appearance, as it has 
not been rebuilt within modern times. In its principal court may still 
be seen the sun-dial made by Isaac Newton. 

The town has a much more ancient appearance than Oxford, the 
houses having queer gables and antiquated chimneys, while the very 
wagons and farmers, appearing on market day, seem to belong to the 
middle ages. The Cam, a stream which passes through the college 




OLD ENGLISH DOORWAV. 



grounds, often bears along, almost under the windows of some of the 
university buildings, the coal, wood and grain destined for neighboring 
towns. It carries one through the fenny district to Ely, to which point 
many of the nobles fled to escape the cruelty of William the Conqueror 
after the battle of Hastings. An authentic picture has been drawn of 
earls and knights capturing wild duck, eels and pike, and feasting with 
the monks of Ely, their lances standing against the wall ready for use 
should the Normans seek and find them in their marshy stronghold. 
William finally found these flowers of Saxon knighthood, and, to crush 
them, built a road twelve miles over the marsh to El)'. But the road 
was poorly constructed and sunk many ambitious Normans to their slimy 



BUNYAN, COWPER, AND VERULAM. I45 

graves. The next attempt made would have been successful, had not 
the leader of the Saxon force disguised himself as one of the army of 
laborers which was collecting brushwood for a solid roadway and set fire 
to the enormous pile before it could be used. But the King confiscated 
the lands of the abbey, and one day, when the Saxons were away looking 
for provisions, the monks paid the Norman King a certain sum to get 
back their property besides giving the foreign soldiers entrance to the 
stronghold. Both Danes and Normans ravaged the Fen country. 

BUNYAN, COWPER AND VERULAM. 

Before leaving this portion of the kingdom for the country north of 
the Avon, there are two shires above Middlesex, in which London is 
situated, which deserve more than a brief notice. The Ouse, a stream 
which meanders through them, waters the home ground of Cowper and 
Bunyan. The author of Pilgrim's Progress was born near the town 
of Bedford and was wont to visit the locality where, in prison, he spent 
twelve years of his life. The monument to the great and conscientious 
man which is erected in Bedford represents him as a preacher. 

In Hertfordshire was born the insanely sensitive poet. The rectory 
of Great Berkhamstead where he first saw the uncertain light still stands, 
and the house at Olney where he enjoyed, so many years, the friend- 
ship of Mrs. Unwin. Although Cowper's father was a royal chaplain, 
the son is buried in a church in Dereham, Norfolk, while the son of the 
tinker died and was buried in London. Due east of Cowper's birthplace 
is St. Albans, that famous borough near which two great battles were 
fought in the War of the Roses. It is near the site of an ancient town 
called \"erulam. From this circumstance Lord Bacon's royal title was 
of a double nature — Baron Verulam and Viscount of St. Albans — and 
there is a monument to the great thinker in the borough. 

YARMOUTH FLATS. 

Any admirer of England's most genial, if not her greatest novelist 
will not fail to travel a little nearer the North Sea — in fact, to reach its 
very coasts and stroll around the quaint, flat Yarmouth, with its ship, 
yards and great quays and smell of herrings. It is in just such a place 
as one would expect to find Peggotty, and Em'ly, and Uncle Dan, and 
Mrs. Gummidge, and all the others. Yarmouth was not reclaimed from 
the river until the eleventh century, and although its mouth has been 
diverted several miles to the south, the Flats still seem a fair invitation 
to the sea to come in and cover them, as of old. 

And althouo^h we have left London, the mind can not but revert to 



146 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

the old-fashioned, comfortable home of the handsome, impulsive, im« 
pressible and not altogether unlovable Steerforth, in Highgate, within 
sight of the city. The few glimpses which Dickens has given of the 
stately Mrs. Steerforth are indescribably tender. The picture of her 
dignified figure bending and her hair whitening under the weight of her 
son's dissfrace. and that other scene of stony and passionate grief after 




AN OLD ENGLISH LADY. 



the body of Em'ly's unprincipled lover had been cast by that fearful sea 
upon Yarmouth flats, are both associated with this portion of the Eng- 
lish coast. In years to come we imagine some such face as that above. 

A FAMOUS BATTLE-FIELD. 

Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln and York form a compact 
group of shires, in which may be found matters of absorbing interest, 



BACK TO NOTTINGHAM. I47 

especially to Amyicans ; but, boy-like, we reserve the best for the last. 
Leicestershire is famous in English history as the scene of the final battle 
between the Red and White Roses, where Richard III. was slain 
and the line of the Plantagenets disappeared from history. Henry, Earl 
of Richmond, came from France to try conclusions with him, only a 
few weeks previous, collecting an army as he advanced from Wales 
straight across country to Leicester. Among other places he stopped 
over night at Shrewsbury — separated by one shire from Bosworth 
Field — and the house at which he slept is still perfect, being at the 
present time occupied by two shops. Another one of the Earl's sleep- 
ing places, after he had heard that Richard was at Leicester, was the 
inn of the Three Tuns, at which man and beast may still be enter- 
tained. In the meantime Richard III. had been advancing from Notting- 
ham. This was one of his favorite court residences, the view from his 
castle being grand indeed. He marshaled his forces in the market-place 
and led them toward Leicester, following the first column of his troops 
on a white horse and wearing the imperial crown. The King rested at 
the "Blue Boar Inn," which has been pulled down, and on the fourth day 
thereafter the armies came in sight of each other on an uneven marshy 
field, in the western part of Leicestershire. The immortal Bard of Avon 
is considered the most precise historian of the battle which rung out the 
Plantagenets and rung in the Tudors. Richard's crown, which was found 
near a hawthorn bush, after the fight, was placed upon the Earl's head, 
and therefore upon King Henry's monument at Westminster Abbey 
there appears a crown in a bush. The center of Bosworth Field is 
marked by a spring, over which is a small stone structure of pyramidal 
shape. Even the well shares the ignominy of the fallen king ; it has 
never been called King Richard's well, but King Dick's well. From the 
field have been dug artistic crossbows, and spurs of steel, and gigantic 
spear heads, some of which are deposited in the Bosworth church and 
in the Liverpool Museum ; that bloody ground placed a red seal upon a 
thirty years' civil war and the slaughter of one hundred thousand Eng- 
lishmen. 

BACK TO NOTTINGHAM. 

From Bosworth Field to Nottingham, with quaint country inns all 
along the way, is suggestive of Richard's triumphal march in the other 
direction. Though these interior hostelries retain their picturesque and 
antiquated appearance and their homely names, as a rule they furnish 
good fare and comfortable beds and keep pace with the times. In 
England; as in this country, however, the tourist or summer guest has a 



148 THE world's fair. 

few complaints to make about that magician, the coonmercial traveler, 
who always gets the very best the inns afford. A stop at Leicester 
should not be neglected, for its castle, of which a few traces only remain, 
was once a royal residence, and in the Abbey of St. Mary Pre, also in 
ruins, died the princely and too ambitious Cardinal Wolsey. 

Nottingham is getting to be quite a modern town, with a great 
market-place surrounded by lofty buildings, and numerous manufactories 
are in brisk operation. Richard's old castle has long ago given place to 
the present structure — but perhaps young and old would like to be 
acquainted with the fact that Nottingham is noted for being near 
Gotham, where originated the story of the Seven Wise Men who went 
to sea in a bowl. 

The inhabitants were Saxons, and so hated King John that they 
felled trees across the road which he was to take, to make a visit of state 
to the town. This so enraged him that he sent a sheriff to cut off their 
noses. But the citizens had deliberated, and when the officer returned 
he bore word to the King that they were all a set of fools and not 
accountable for their actions. From that day until the true story came 
out, the Wise Men of Gotham was said in derision. 

BYRON AND ROBIN HOOD. 

It is a short ride by rail to Mansfield, and a walk from that venera- 
ble town leads one to Newstead Abbey, a most picturesque ruin founded 
by the Henry through whose thoughtlessness, at least, Thomas a Becket 
was murdered. Itwas built as a propitiatory offering and became the home 
of Lord Byron. The rooms of the poet, it is said, remain as he left 
them ; his bedstead, with gilded coronets, his pictures, portraits of 
friends, writing table and all. The abbey forms a portion of the old 
forest of Sherwood, the haunt of Robin Hood and his band. The 
new growth of the forest is fine and the ferns are seemingly exhaustless; 
but the old oaks are the most interesting. Parliament oak boasts of 
a green old age, for, although it still bears leaves, one of the kings held 
his parliament under it in the thirteenth century. Another veteran is 
pointed out which is supposed to be seven hundred years old. These 
pioneers of the forest are twisted, and gnarled, and rifted, and most of 
them have local tales attached to them as well as timber braces and 
crutches, to keep them from caving in or falling to the ground. There 
is the same pride shown in keeping them above ground as if they 
were very aged people who had passed through many memorable 
scenes. 



A CASTLE AND COUNTRY INNS. 1 49 

•A CASTLE AND COUNTRY INNS. 

The still noble ruins of Ashby Castle are reached by taking a 
short trip from Leicester northwest to near the border line of Derby- 
shire. This was in Richard's time upon the grand estate of the unfor- 
tunate Lord Hastings, murdered by that king through the executioner. 
Around the castle, which was one of the grandest in England, was a 
stately park five square miles in extent. Oliver Cromwell besieged 
it, reduced it and imprisoned several noble dukes and earls in it, who 
supported the royal cause. Afterwards, when the army of the Lord 
Protector triumphed throughout England, a committee of Parliament de- 
termined what castles should stand 
and which be destroyed. Ashby 
was too dangerous to be passed 
over and it was accordingly un- 
dermined and brought to its pres- 
ent condition. 

In the town of Ashby the 
same quaint old inns appear — 
the Queen's Head, the Bull's 
Head, etc., etc. These inns ex- 
hibit their noble proclivities in 
A DERBYSHIRE INN. various ways, the latter flying 

the Hastings coat of arms as a sign and symbol. Throughout Derby, 
also, it is inn upon inn, and every one is an added charm to the beau- 
tiful country. 

AMERICA IN ENGLAND. 

East of Nottinghamshire, beyond the River Trent, there is a con- 
tinuation of the Fen country, whose general features have been already 
described. In its midst, near the sea, at the mouth of a river, is Boston, 
England, the parent of Boston, U. S. A. Rev. John Cotton, one of our 
Boston's first clergymen, preached there for many years. From him 
have, descended such families as Everett, Grant, Hale, Jackson, Froth- 
ingham, Lee, Mather, Thayer, Tracy, Whiting, etc. Residents of 
the United States have erected a chapel to his memory near St. 
Botolph's church, in which he preached for twenty years, the Latin 
inscription being by the Hon. Edward Everett. This beautiful church, 
with its tower nearly 300 feet in height, is 580 years old, and retains the 
original name from which Boston was corrupted. " St. Botolph was a 
Saxon saint who lived in the seventh century, and was almost contem- 




150 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

poraneous with the more celebrated St. Cuthbert. The common pro- 
nunciation in the eastern countries is St. Bottle; so the transition from 
Bottlestown to Boston is comprehensible." Boston is like a Dutch town 

— her warehouses, wharfs, vessels and buildings remind one of Holland 

— and in the matter of contests with the sea she had the experience of 
her neighbors on the other shore of the North Sea. In the days of 
King John, Boston merchants were taxed according to their wealth. 
London yielded /^S^6 to the King and Boston was second with ^780. 
Her population may now be 20,000. At about the time her great church 
was built she was of such power and wealth that her vessels comprised 
the bulk of the navy which carried the troops of Edward to the battle 
of Crecy, France. Cromwell made Boston his headquarters for a time. 

Improvements in the channel of the river are restoring its trade to 
some extent, but the chief interest attaching to it is its connection with 
American history ; for Cotton's friends named new Boston. From 
Hartford another English clergyman went to America to found a church, 
and gave the American city a name. In fact, the Fen country of East- 
ern and Southeastern England became the stronghold of the English 
Puritans as it was that of the Saxons against the Normans, and much of 
the best blood of New England flowed from that marshy, foggy, plague- 
stricken and unattractive country. The county of Lincoln, in which is 
Boston, was the native place of John Wesley, founder of Methodism. 

Yorkshire adjoins Lincolnshire on the north and from this land of 
moors and wolds came forth such families as Washington, Penn and 
Winthrop. The Washington family fled from Cromwell because it was 
a champion of Charles II. and the Stuart dynasty. John Washington 
and his brother Lawrence escaped to America. 

A few miles from the railway which runs between Hull and York is 
a massive structure, surrounded by a pleasant park in which elms pre- 
dominate. In a corner of the park is a venerable little church. "Of 
course, a private path leads into the chancel where the family pews are. 
There is a fine collection of paintings here, one of President Washing- 
ton, on which a great value is set. The little church has the dignity of 
being a parish one, and possessing a rector, and here the parish records 
are kept. Unhappily, they are very imperfect ; those relating to Wash- 
ington's great-grandfather, John Washington, are not to be found and 
there are others of later dates which are very puzzling." 

THE ENGLISH YORK. 

Both the city of York and the county of York are among the most 
interesting and picturesque districts of England. The capital is near 



THE ENGLISH YORK. 15I 

the center of Great Britain, and by Britons, Romans, Saxons, Danes and 
Normans was considered the key to a successful invasion from the north. 
From the earhest times it was a chief town of the Northern Britons. 
Then it was a Roman station and the chief city of the imperial power in 
the north. Fortresses, temples and palaces arose, ruins of which exist, 
and late excavations, which have been made near the railway station, 
have unearthed rich jewels of silver and gold, delicate jars and lamps of 
glass, cameos and statuettes of bronze and ivory, great squares of intri- 
cate pavements of Mosaic work and other evidences of the magnificence 
which reigned when the Emperors Hadrian and Severus lived in York. 
Here Severus died, as well as the father of Constantine the Great, and 
many believe that Constantine himself was born in York. At the time 
of his father's death Constantine was in the city, and in York the Sixth 
Legion proclaimed him Emperor. 

Britons and Picts fought for the possession of the great northern 
capital, and the savage tribes from beyond Hadrian's wall overran and 
destroyed it. The Saxons re-established its importance and it became 
the capital of the powerful kingdom of Northumbria, out of which York 
was finally carved. The first King of all England held his Witenage- 
mot, or popular parliament, in York ; and three weeks before the battle 
of Hastings, Harold, the last of the Saxon monarchs, defeated a united 
force of Danes and Norwegians only a few miles from the capital. The 
Danes captured the city, after it had fallen into the hands of the Nor- 
mans, and put the garrison to the sword, and then the Normans laid 
waste the country for miles around and butchered one hundred thousand 
people. 

The first English parliament was held at York, and for five cen- 
turies thereafter it met there, occasionally. The highest courts of the 
kingdom even had their seasons of sitting at York. But when Plantag- 
enet went down at Bosworth Field, York declined and fell. It became 
one of the greatest ecclesiastical centers of England. The first metro- 
politan church was built there. In the eighth century the magnificent 
Anglo-Saxon church was built which was enlarged into York Minster. 
This ranks as one of the largest and finest specimens of Gothic architec- 
ture in the world, being longer than St. Paul's Cathedral. Some portions 
of St. Mary's Abbey, completed in the Conqueror's time for the Bene- 
dictine monks, stand in the midst of stately gardens shaded by a belt of 
elms, wonderfully graceful in their old age. 

Within these gardens is also the " King's Manor House.' built from 
the walls of St. Mary's Abbey and the residence of the Stuarts. It is a rough 
stone building, two stories in height, with many gables and chimneys 



52 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



and covered with vines from its foundation to the peaks of its dormer 
windows. The arms of the Earl of Strafford are emblazoned over the 
door, for when he was made Lord President of the North he took up his 
residence in King's Manor. The building is now occupied by the York- 
shire School for the Blind, dedicated to William Wilberforce. 

But York lies mostly in the past. It is the most ancient-looking 

/ city in England. The 

•( , ^ / K streets are narrow, 

e-C~^/^ 'X^ V>i, ^kg *^he houses are high, 

.*^''V ~\4^. ' i^so^ii^^K » . with very pointed 

roofs, and on market 
day when the farmers 
appear with their 
broad-wheeled carts, 
their gaily-decorated 
blouses and their 
broad Yorkshire dia- 
lect, modern times 
are forgotten. Some 
of the houses are 
massive piles, with 
only a few windows 
in front, the upper 
two stories not only 
bulging out over the 
lower, but the third 
being higher than the 
second and project- 
ing farther over the 
street. In one of the 
most ancient streets 
are the remains of 
the parliament house, 
and near by the 
coach-house, which is at least four hundred years old. 

The many Jewish faces seen in York remind one of poor Isaac and 
his Rebecca, in Ivanhoe. Until comparatively of recent date the 
principal quarters of that people were called Jubbargate and Jewbury. 
When York was great, the)' were as powerful as Scott represented 
them, and in the royal city they were often attacked by armed mobs 
and sometir-ies murdered. It was their custom, at one time, to keep a 




OLD ENGLISH GATEWAY. 



MANCHESTER, 153 

record of their loans in the York Minster, but they discontinued the 
-practice after the populace had broken into the cathedral and burned the 
•documents, 

MANCHESTER. 

It is the county of Lancaster, York's old rival, which is now at the 
height of prosperity ; and we need merely mention Manchester and Liv- 
erpool to make the contrast forcible. Manchester is only about twenty 
miles west of the romantic Peak District, which will be hereafter noticed. 
It is the most important manufacturing city of Great Britain, its cotton 
ivorks leading the world. The city has been noted for the excellence of 
this line for centuries. It is the center of a great canal system, and 
many canals intersect its streets. It was the home of many famous 
inventors, but has acquired the most prominence, perhaps, as being the 
rallying point of the free-traders of England. Cobden and Bright and 
the "Manchester School" are known wherever industrial questions are 
discussed. Statues of these leaders, with their convert Sir Robert Peel, 
and the inventor Watt, adorn the public parks. The present free-trade 
hall, erected on the site of the old one, is unattractive but holds five 
thousand people, and is already marked as an historical building, 

LIVERPOOL. " 

Liverpool from its long dealings with this country, as the greatest 
•cotton market of the world and one of the largest grain centers, has 
imbibed the true American spirit of pluck, perseverance and push. 
Nearly all the emigrants who leave Great Britain and one-half her 
■exports pass through Liverpool. She is rapidly capturing the wool 
trade of Australia, and with all her strides in cosmopolitan trade the city 
lias found time to improve her appearance and consider the health of her 
■citizens. The sewerage system is being extended and improved, and 
the water supply perfected, so that, although the most densely populated 
•city in England, she is rapidly leaving behind her former record of being 
■one of the most unhealthy, Liverpool has thirty miles of dockage, the 
yards within the city and the ones which the Corporation owns in Bir- 
kenhead having a world-wide fame for their massive character. The 
shipping in the docks is protected by a sea wall five miles in length, and 
forty feet in height, entrance being effected through numerous gates, 
some of which open a passage loo feet wide. Liverpool is almost as 
great a railway center as London, The first line in England run from 
Liverpool to Manchester and was opened eight years before the London 
railway. 



154 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

The center of commercial activity in Liverpool is the town square, 
the hall being upon one side, and the American and Liverpool chambers 
of commerce, cotton sales rooms, and mercantile offices upon the 
remaining three sides. 

GLADSTONE AND HIS ESTATE. 

It is appropriate that Gladstone should have been born in Liver- 
pool, not far from free-trade Manchester. His father was first a wealthy 
merchant in the West India trade and afterwards a baronet. Gladstone 
is manly Manchester and liberal Liverpool in himself, just as the more 
meteoric Disraeli was, in one, radical and conservative London, where he 
enjoyed his triumphs of literature and politics. 

The peninsula upon which Birkenhead is situated divides the Mer- 
sey from the River Dee. On the left bank of the latter stream runs a 
good highway overlooking a beautiful country and the estuaries of both 
the rivers. A few minutes' walk from the main road brings one to the 
country town of Hawarden, and fronting on the main street are the 
gates of the castle which lie in the broad Gladstone estate. The village 
also runs along the walls of the park for a long distance, so that when 
the Prime Minister retires to his estate to chop trees and superintend 
improvements — to rest by plunging into another grade of work — he 
may be in the world and yet not of it. The estate has descended to 
Mr. Gladstone's wife from -William I., through a long line of nobles and 
Sergeant Glynne of Cromwell's army. Mrs. Gladstone's maiden name 
was Glynne. Before reaching her from William it twice reverted to 
the Crown. The original castle in bare outline has been retained, and 
from its lofty tower the beautiful Hawarden park and the rich features 
of the surrounding country, which are spread out like a feast, cause the 
wonder to increase more and more that the venerable statesman can 
ever tear himself away and return to the turmoil of public life. 

MANUFACTURING AND MECHANICAL ENGLAND. 

From the Cheshire hills, which are further inland than Hawarden, 
the view of rivers, villages, castles, parks and gladsome stretches of 
landscape can not be surpassed. There are scores of old towns in this 
region worth visiting, but in the midst of everything romantic, historical, 
picturesque and charming, figuratively speaking, one stumbles into the 
greatest salt mines of England. The center of the district is the old 
town of Northwich on the River Weaver, which comes from the Mer- 
sey. Along the entire valley of the stream, huge deposits of rock salt 



I'EVERIL OF THE PEAK. 1 55 

are found and quarried, and such is the recklessness of the money-makers 
in the old town itself that its foundations are being carried away, and its 
buildings are sinking so that they incline to every degree of the circle. 
And thus it is from Central to Northern England — from Birmingham to 
Newcastle-on-Tyne — the English delve and reap, with history and 
poetry scattered in the hills around them and worked into nearly every 
village and hamlet throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
Verily the Englishman is insular, and well he may be. with so much to 
bind him to the soil. 

The manufacturing towns of Central and Northern England, the iron 
and coal districts naturally are where the inventors flourished. There was 
Watt, a Scotchman, but he manufactured his improved steam engines 
near Birmingham. He also first invented steam apparatus for heating 
houses. 

Then, later, came George Stephenson, the Northumberland collier, 
who became engineer of a mine, and made such ingenious inventions as 
constructing inclines by which loaded wagons descending to the vessels 
drew up the empty ones. When he was thirty-three he constructed the 
first smooth-wheeled locomotive ever built, and the next year invented a 
miner's lamp which is still used in the collieries. Ten years afterwards 
he established a manufactory for locomotives at Newcastle-on-Tyne and 
was appointed the engineer of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. 
Upon this line he placed the Rocket and seven other locomotives, not- 
withstanding that wise engineers recommended the use of stationary 
engines which should drag the trains by ropes. It is from Birmingham 
to Newcastle, principally on either side of the Pennine chain of hills and 
mountains, which runs down into Cornwall as the backbone of England, 
that the mineral and manufacturing districts lie. 

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK. 

Between Sheffield and Birmingham is the Peak District of Derby- 
shire and Staffordshire, a tract of country made up of sandstone and 
limestone hills, glens, waterfalls, and streams, where Walton and Cotton 
often fished together. Impartially distributed through such a romantic 
region, which Sir Walter Scott has especially favored in the " Peveril of 
the Peak," are the great manufacturing centers of Leeds, Sheffield and 
Birmingham. You should buy your clothing at Leeds, your cutlery at 
Sheffield, and anything in the world which comes in metal at Birming- 
ham. Manufacturing cities are of a stamp, everywhere, the peculiarity 
of those of Great Britain being that the surrounding country is incom- 
parable. ^ 



is6 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



Near Castleton in the upper portion of the Peak Region is Peverll's 
Castle and The Peak. The former is, of course, a sombre ruin. But 
Chatsworth, or the Palace of the Peak, arises, stately and beautiful, 
with a solid background of rocks and dense foliage. The grand conser- 
vatory, three hun- 
dredfeet in length, 
and extensive gar- 
dens are among 
the most famous in 
England. The es- 
tate has descended 
from William the 
Conqueror, who 
gave it to Will- 
iam Peveril, his 
natural son. The 
principal building 
was nearly com- 
pleted in the sev- 
enteenth century, 
being nearly i8o 
feet square. Draw- 
ings and paintings 
by Titian, Rem- 
brandt, Murillo 
and Landseer and 
pieces of sculpture 
by Thorwaldsen, 
Canova and other 
masters make the 
rooms of state val- 
uable storehouses 
Mary Stuart was a prisoner 




■**^^44^ 



ENGLISH POTTERY. 



of art as well as intrinsically beautiful, 
at Chatsworth for thirteen years. 

THE POTTERY SHIRE. 

Litchfield is a few miles east of the southern portion of the district, 
in the county of Stafford. It is an old manufacturing town, with a cathe- 
dral which sends up three great spires, whose foundations were laid 
seven centuries ago. Litchfield was made an Episcopal see in the 
seventh century, but visitors go to the handsome old town to see the 



THE BORDER LAND. 1 57 

house where gruff, practical, uncouth Dr. Johnson was born; that rugged 
thinker who went to one root of things and could not understand how 
idealists even could find any other. The house is there on one side of 
the market square, and not far away are statues erected to his memory 
and that of Garrick and Lady Montagu. 

The pottery manufactories which have made Staffordshire the cen- 
ter of the industry in England lie in this region, along the River Trent. 
The manufacture was brought from Delft, Holland, which had been 
supplying Northern Europe for many years with its famous household 
ware. Two centuries ago several brothers came from the Netherlands 
and established a pottery in Staffordshire, but it was not until seventy 
years thereafter that the Wedgwood family introduced not only new 
and superb decorations for old pottery, but several new kinds of ware, 
the best known being, perhaps. Queen's ware. "Wedgewood was imi- 
tated and copied throughout Europe. He employed good artists to 
make designs and moulds for his works, among whom Flaxman was 
conspicuous; he borrowed antique gems in immense number iot fac- 
simile reproduction, and his taste and skill were exercised in supplying 
thousands of varieties of artistic productions. The art advanced rapidly 
in England and numerous potteries became famous. One immediate 
result of Wedgwood's discoveries was the introduction of new pastes, 
called stonewares, which occupy a position between pottery and porce- 
lain, and for which English potteries have become especially known. 
The division of porcelain into two classes, soft and hard paste, becomes^ 
in examining English wares, impracticable, since the pastes are but dif- 
ferent classes of pottery, running up from soft pottery to hard porcelain 
in one direction and to opaque glass in another. The most important 
modern addition to these pastes is one the invention of which is claimed 
by two great houses, Minton and Copeland, known as Parian biscuit." 

THE BORDER LAND. 

Above Lancashire, pressed in between the Pennine chain and the 
Irish Sea and extending to Solway Firth, is the Lake Region of England, 
and there are few more restful, serene and inspiring havens on earth. It 
is not Switzerland. It is not the poetry of Byron, but of Wordsworth. 
He was the foremost of the school of *' lake poets." Both Southey and 
Wordsworth lived by the lakes and were buried there. Scott, also, was 
drawn to the beautiful region, and with Wordsworth ascended many a 
peak and breathed in the beauties of sky, lake, mountain, valley, sunrise 
and sunset. 



158 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

It is here that we approach the borderland of Scotland, where the 
conflict between Northern and Southern Celt raged with such stubborn- 
ness. The course of Hadrian's wall, built by Rome to keep back the 
Celts of the north, is from Carlisle to near Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 
opposite coast. The scenery along the line is magnificent, but the north 
and northwest of England so teem with picturesqueness that the chief 
interest should be centered in the still perfect nature of these military 
remains. There is the wall proper, consisting of a ditch, a stone rampart, 
a space between this and the earthworks for the military road, and three 
earthen ramparts. Every few miles there are fortified encampments, 
and, nearer still, castles and watch-towers. " Moreover there are roads 
and bridges, traces of villas, gardens and burial places, making almost 
every inch from sea to sea classic ground. A stranger might suppose 
that after the lapse of long centuries, all these works, granting their ex- 
istence once, must have disappeared. It is not so ; save in the western 
portion there is scarely an acre without distinct traces ; in many places 
all the lines sweep on together, parts in wondrous preservation, while 
many of the recent excavations present structures several feet high, giv- 
ing one the idea of works in progress, so fresh that we are tempted to 
think of the builders as away for an hour, perhaps to the noonday meal." 

Carlisle had a part in all the wars between the Romans and Britons 
and the Saxons, Picts and Scots. It was a Roman station in the early 
days of Christianity, being the more ancient seat of the kings of Cam- 
bria. Around Carlisle lie both Druidical and Roman remains. At Pen- 
rith the Druid temple, formed of sixty-seven immense stones, is known as 
Long Meg and her Daughters. The Druids early established their altars 
in this region, and after the Romans defeated the Britons multitudes of 
the priests and priestesses gathered on the Isle of Man. The Romans 
followed them, and put to the sword, without mercy, the long-haired 
priests and the torch-bearing priestesses. 

Newcastle-on-Tyne is yet a thriving city which contains car and 
locomotive works ; a great establishment for the manufacture of the 
Armstrong gun, iron bridges and ship armor, as well as other important 
manufactories. The bridge across the river, built by Stephenson, has 
both a carriageway and a railway viaduct, the latter being 1 18 feet from 
the water. 

The Cheviot hills mark the boundary between England and Scot- 
land, being the natural wall between the two countries. Upon Flodden, 
the last of the hills in Northumberland, England, the great battle was 
fought between James, the Scottish King, and the Earl of Surrey, in 
which the Scotch were slain to a man, the royal leader falling within a 



THE SCOTCH, • I 59 

few feet of the noble. The flower of Scotland, nobility, gentry and 
clergy, was crushed on Flodden Field, and to this day it is her greatest 
national grief. It was well that her greatest romancist and heroic poets, 
should immortalize it. The battle was fought but a few miles from the 
Tweed, which is so associated with Scott and his beloved Abbotsford. 

THE SCOTCH. 

The Highland Scotch, those who live in the mountainous regions 
of the north, are of the same Celtic stock as the Irish. Their language 
is nearly identical, although the Lowland Scotch could no more make 
themselves understood by the primitive native of the Isle than the 
typical Londoner could enter into conversation with the Irish farmer. 
The division between the Highland and the Lowland Scotch is becom- 
ing less distinct, however, year by year, and the former are discarding to 
some extent their plaids and petticoats for the dress of the Lowlanders, 
or the English. Their clans and chiefs have disappeared, except in the 
records of the family Bibles, but their former prowess is still upheld by 
the record which their regiments have made in the history of the Eng- 
lish army. The Lowlanders were as brave, but more intellectual, and 
defended their liberty with all the military ardor of the Highlanders and 
the firmness of the Anglo-Saxons, 

The Picts were both Lowland and Highland Scotchmen. It was 
against the Picts that the Romans erected the wall in England and also 
one in Southern Scotland between the friths of Forth and Clyde. After 
they left the country to attend to troubles at home a strong Pictish 
kingdom was formed between the two walls, by the consolidation of a 
number of tribes. The Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland, invaded and 
held the western coasts during the early part of the sixth century, the 
Saxons having preceded them about fifty years on the eastern coasts, 
where they had seized the lowlands from the Picts and founded Edin- 
burgh. The Pictish kingdom had a shadowy existence for nearly four 
centuries, but it was gradually absorbed by the stronger Scots as well as 
the Saxon tribes of the east. The whole country at length took the 
name of the dominant race. The Danes could make no headway against 
them, and the Scottish kingdom grew in territory and power, even snatch- 
ing away some of England's northern districts. 

The Malcolms and the Alexanders are specially noted among the 
early kings of Scotland, but the difficulties, with England commenced 
seriously when a Malcolm, who had married the sister of the legitimate 
Saxon King, ravaged the north of the country in retaliation for the bat- 
tle of Hastings. The kings of England interfered in the disputes 



l6o THE world's fair. 

between claimants to the Scottish throne. Wallace and Bruce arose, 
and the battle of Bannockburn established the independence of Scotland 
notwithstanding Flodden Field, long afterwards. During the same cen- 
tury the first of the House of Stuart sat upon the throne, he being the 
son of the royal steward. For a century the great earls of Douglas 
defied the kings, though one was stabbed by the royal hand and the 
whole house was finally driven into exile. After the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, James VI., of Scotland whose great-grandmother was Mar- 
garet Tudor, the daughter of Henry VH., ascended the throne of Eng- 
land, thus uniting the two kingdoms. This fortunate circumstance, in 
connection with their stubborn resistance to English oppression, raised 
the Scotch to an equality with their more numerous and opulent neigh- 
bors and assured them political independence. 

When James became King of England he attempted to force the 
Established Church upon Scotland, but the Covenanters bound them- 
selves to uphold Presbyterianism, and even hoped to extend their relig- 
ious discipline over England and Ireland. They united with the Eng- 
lish Puritans, and the result was that Cromwell bound them in chains, 
and the Presbyterian Church did not become established as a State 
institution until during Queen Anne's reign, when England and Scotland 
were formally united into one kingdom. The name most prominent in the 
incipient stages of these fierce religious conflicts, is that of John Knox, 
who imbibed the spirit of the Reformation at Geneva, and his History 
of the Scottish Reformation is, perhaps, the first great prose work which 
the country produced. It is an earnest, rugged piece of English, and 
speaks forth the national character. His native town was Edinburgh, 
and in that kingly city, "throned on crags," his house stands, a grotesque 
building with a gallery reached by a flight of stairs, and having two 
small, gabled chambers on its roof. 

EDINBURGH. 

The city, which was formerly a single parish under the pastorate of 
Knox, is principally built on three parallel ridges, the old town running 
along the central one and terminating on the west in the great rock or hill 
upon which is Edinburgh Castle. At the eastern extremity is Holyrood, 
the palace of Mary Queen of Scots. Upon the sides of this ridge are 
the most ancient houses many stories in height. The different parts of 
the city are connected by bridges, hundreds of paths winding through the 
valleys and over the ridges. Parks and gardens, monuments and great 
public structures are pitched upon the rocks or almost buried in deep 
ravines. The architecture of the city is noble in the extreme. 



EDINBURGH. l6l 

The great castle, which stands upon a rock three hundred feet high, 
approachable from the city from only one side, is Scotland symbolized. 
In it is a small room, once a portion of the apartments of Mary Queen 
of Scots, where James was born. Scotland's national regalia — the crown, 
sceptre, sword of state and lord treasurer's rod — is in the crown-room 
of the castle. Within its walls Robert Bruce held the parliament which 
ratified the treaty acknowledging the independence of Scotland, and 
James made his preparations here for the disastrous field of Flodden. 
Along High street, which leads through the most interesting parts of 
this ancient Saxon city, also marched Cromwell's invincible Ironsides. 
Descending from Castle Hill one passes into Grassmarket where many 
of the Covenanters became martyrs, and in an old churchyard, near by, 
they have a monument erected to them. 

Queen Mary's palace is a short distance from Calton Hill, from 
which the most imposing view of Edinburgh and the country around is 
obtained. Part of the palace was burned down in Cromwell's time, and 
what remains is a plain, sombre structure of stone, flanked by towers. 
The room is shown in which Rizzio, Mary's Italian favorite, was stabbed 
to death by Douglas, and the very stain of his life blood is pointed out 
upon the floor. The palace contains a picture gallery of legendary and 
historical kings, and back of it are the ruins of an abbey in which are the 
tombs of several Scottish monarchs. 

The University of Edinburgh is a stately building of modern con- 
struction, and a renowned institution of learning, especially as to its 
medical departments. Crossing a bridge from the University, one finds 
himself in a metropolitan street, with great buildings and Scott's mag- 
nificent monument on one side and beautiful gardens spread over a deep 
ravine on the other. Across the ravine is the massive Bank of England. 
And so the bewildering contrast goes on, man weakly struggling to over- 
take the sublimity of nature. It is strange not that so many of the great 
men of Scotland have been drawn to Edinburgh, but that so many have 
escaped her. To this day the literary activity and vigor of the Scotch 
find their only effective oittlet in Edinburgh, her periodicals taking rank 
with the best English journals. 

On High street, one of the noble thoroughfares of the old city, is 
Parliament Square, in one angle of which is the House with its magnifi- 
cent hall arched with dark oak. The gloomy jail, known as the " Heart 
of Midlothian," stood in one corner of the square, but was taken down 
the year previous to the publication of Scott's novel. " The only memo- 
rial of its position is a figure of a heart let into the pavement ; but its 
massive door and huge padlock are preserved, with many other relics o£ 

old da^'s, at Abbotsford." 
11 



1 62 THE world's FAIR. 

MELROSE AND ABBOTSFORD. 

Beyond the Cheviot hills, from England, is Roxburghshire. A fair 
chain of hills passes through the county, and between them and the 
Tweed are Melrose and the ruins of its abbey. There are only a few 
fragments of the cloister, but the carved, sculptured and lavishly decor- 
ated church is almost entire ; the figures of which, from the hardness of 
the stone, are remarkably clear in outline. But Scottish poets have 
laid their choicest colors upon Melrose Abbey, both without and within ; 
told also of the kingly tombs therein, and of Bruce's heart which is sup- 
posed to be mouldering in some secret place within its walls. The Tweed 
runs musically through a meadow and wooded country to Abbotsford, 
and a few miles away is Yarrow Water, upon whose banks Wordsworth 
and Scott walked together a few days before the mighty Scotchrnan 
sought the gentle climes of Italy as a shield against death. But he 
returned to Abbotsford, for which he had worn out his life, and after 
being wheeled about his beautiful garden he was taken to his library, 
being placed where he could look upon the Tweed. He died, a few 
days thereafter, with his children around him, that gentle stream mur- 
muring in his ears which flows past his tomb at Dryburgh Abbey. 

BURNS AND THE AYR. 

The ancient town of Ayr, near the sea, is across Scotland from Ab- 
botsford. It is a bright place, the capital of the county, and is on the 
peninsula between the Rivers Ayr and Doon. There are castles near 
by and rocky precipices, but the poet found his muse with the birds, 
among the trees and fields, along the pretty banks and " among the 
braes o' Ballochmyle." Ballochmyle is one of the most beautiful por- 
tions of the river, and Burns has not lavished his fragrant genius upon 
an unworthy subject. In the village are the " Twa Brigs" ; the old one 
is said to have been built six centuries ago by two maiden ladies, whose 
efifigies were carved on one of the parapets. It is but a step from 
the modest country of the Ayr to the literary Edinburgh, which then, 
as now, was the center of Scotland's best thought. From gloom and 
despair the rustic passed to fame. Scott himself, then an Edinburgh 
boy, looked upon the lion and trembled. There is a monument erected 
to Burns' memory at Dumfries, the shire town of the first county over the 
English border. Here he died and, long after, Jean Armour, his wife, 
breathed her last under the same roof. The house was purchased by 
one of his sons, a colonel in the English army, and with the garden was 



THE CLYDE AND GLASGOW. 1 63 

deeded to the local educational society, for school purposes, the agree- 
ment being that the premises should be always kept in repair. 

In the most dreary spot of this most dreary shire of bleak hills and 
black morasses Thomas Carlyle welded and polished those splendid 
specimens of thought and rhetoric which made him the foremost essayist 
of Great Britain. 

THE CLYDE AND GLASGOW. 

The Clyde rises in the same chain of uplands from which the Ayr 
flows, but further southeast. " Gathering strength from romantic burns 
and musical rivulets, the river flows in long curves, splashing over boul- 
ders, singing merrily to quiet hamlets, lending genial influence to 
meadows and cornfields, and taking into its clear waters many a picture 
of bosky hill and hazel-clad bank. Augmented in bulk by the Douglas, 
it sweeps onward to the cliffs and ledges which break it into a rapid, 
foaming torrent." During the upper portion of its course it rushes 
through chasms and between rocky precipices and breaks into thundering 
cascades. Falls and bridges there are, closely associated with the strug- 
gles of the Scotch for political and civil liberty. A tower rises near the 
Falls of Clyde, dedicated to Wallace. Below is a castle, without a roof, 
overlooking the river from a steep bank. It is Bothwell Castle, one of 
the strongholds of the Earl of Bothwell, in Queen Mary's time the most 
powerful noble of Southern Scotland and (by the historic murder of 
Lord Darnley and the divorce from his own wife) the husband of the 
Scottish monarch. Near by is Bothwell bridge, where, a century after 
the disgraced Earl's estates had been confiscated to the crown, a bloody 
battle was fought between the Scotch Covenanters and the English, in 
which the former met with a crushing defeat. On the opposite bank of 
the river, upon a rock nearly hidden by trees, stand the ruins of a priory 
which overlooked David Livingstone's native village. 

As it approaches Glasgow the river becomes dark and turbid and 
the great ship-yards of the city give forth their unpoetic din ; yet this is 
the native soil of Thomas Campbell, his home being upon the banks of 
the Cart^ a small stream which falls into the Clyde. 

GLASGOW. 

Glasgow is the metropolis of Scotland, and second to London in 
wealth and population. It presents a strong contrast to Edinburgh, for 
its site is level, lying on both sides of the river, and its streets are broad 
and regular. Finely ornamented parks, with imposing statues, theatres, 



164 THE world's fair. 

museums and libraries, with immense manufacturing establishments of 
different cloths, iron and chemical works, tell the story of present pros- 
perity and future greatness. The cathedral of the Scotch Church is the 
finest Gothic edifice in the country, and overlooks the city from the 
northeast. For more than four centuries and a half the University of 
Glasgow has had an existence, and is among the leading colleges in Great 
Britain. The city's wonderful growth, however, comes from her com- 
merce and manufactures, which had their origin in natural surroundings, 
Glasgow lying in the midst of a rich coal and iron country. Her yards 
for the building of iron ships are famous the world over. Her chemical 
works (the St. Rollox) are the most extensive in the world, covering over 
sixteen acres, and having a chimney more than 450 feet in height. 

The magnificent city grew around the church founded by St. Mungo, 
or St. Kentigern, in the sixth century. It is said he was born of royal 
blood on the Firth of Forth, but removed to Western Scotland and 
established a monastery on a hill sloping toward the River Clyde. He 
was driven into Wales by a hostile Scottish king, but was recalled and 
renewed his Christian labors. St. Kentigern was visited in his beautiful 
resort by St. Columba, another noted Christian missionary who was 
laboring among the savages of the north and west. The ravages of the 
Danes swept away the church, but the old bishopric reappeared after five 
centuries, a chaplain to one of the Scottish kings was installed in it, 
and the ruined Cathedral was repaired and beautified. Many other 
changes followed. The see became an archbishopric. Scottish reformers 
were burned near the grand cathedral. The blood of the Reformation was 
kindled, the Papal Archbishop fled to France and the Presbyterians are 
in possession of the stately Gothic edifice, whose combined tower and 
spire rises from the center of a lofty roof. 

To reach the University one traverses streets, lined with royal 
buildings, and passes through squares adorned with statues and monu- 
ments of great beauty. Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Lord Clyde and 
Sir John Moore (whose memorial we have noticed at Coruna, Spain), all 
have monuments in George's Square. Sir John was a native of Glasgow. 
John Knox, Nelson, William of Orange and the Duke of Wellington 
appear in stone and indicate the breadth of the Scotch admiration. To 
the western suburb of the city the walk is charming, the street being 
adorned with stately terraces and residences, green lawns and bright 
gardens and parks. Beyond the last park, over a pleasant stream, is 
Gilmore Hill, from which rises the University. 

Returning to the Clyde, from the university, we still pursue a north- 
ward course toward the Firth, passing churches, villages and picturesque 



THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 1 65 

Stretches of lawn and meadow, and a striking range of hills — the Kil- 
patrick. They mark the western extremity of the Roman wall, built 
across Scotland, and a little village at their base is pointed out as the 
birthplace of St. Patrick. 

Nearer the North Channel and the sea, as we move toward the 
more open water of the Firth of Clyde, is the old Castle of Dumbarton — 
the prison of the fated Wallace, the point where Mary Stuart*em- 
barked for France, and the fortress of both the soldiers of Bruce and 
Cromwell. As one gets more and more into the open sea the rugged 
highlands of Argyle and the gentler lines of the Isle of Bute — the orig- 
inal home of the Stuart family — merge into a single tract of land which 
combines them both — the island of Arran. Rugged mountain peaks 
and shadowy glens strike the pilgrim with profoundest awe in one direc- 
tion, while in another sunny bays and gentle beaches, fertile slopes of 
green and quiet, level moors produce a pleasant and soothing influence 
on the spirit. Within the compass of a few hours' walk the wanderer 
may see, in swift succession, the "hoar and dizzy cliff, and the fiercely- 
dashing cataract, the wave-lashed headland and the far-sounding shore, 
the dark mountain tarn, which ever seems to frown, and the merry, wind- 
ing streamlet that ceaseth not to play." From the highest mountain of 
the island, which terminates in a granite pyramid, this diversity of beauty 
is spread out as in a romantic picture, with cattle and sheep, neat cot- 
tages and hamlets scattered over the face of nature ; far beyond 
stretch the rugged coasts of Argyle, with their rocky islands, while in 
the other direction, if the weather is friendly, the coasts of the Emerald 
Isle struggle dimly into view. 

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 

The strip of country between Edinburgh and Glasgow, or, more 
strictly speaking, between the Firths of Forth and Clyde is the border 
land between the Scottish highlands and lowlands. From the Firth of 
Forth to Moray Firth, far to the north, there are many level tracts, so 
that many Scotchmen prefer to draw a more careful line from Moray 
Firth, through the central part of Northern Scotland to Dumbarton, on 
the Clyde, and call the country west of it, including the Hebrides Islands, 
the Highlands. A few words, now, regarding the debatable land east of 
this imaginary line beyond which, until within a comparatively recent 
day, were buttressed the purest specimens of the Celtic race in Scotland. 

Within this strip of country between the eastern and the western 
Firths, through which the first of the old Roman walls was built, there are 



1 66 THE world's fair. 

two specially interesting localities. Sixteen miles west of Edinburgh is 
an old town down in a hollow, which contains among its other buildings 
a beautiful Gothic church and the magnificent remains of a palace. In 
the church it is said that James IV. was warned by an apparition not to 
march to Flodden Field, and in one of the royal apartments, whose ruins 
are grand indeed, was born Mary Stuart. Sterling Castle, rising from a 
majestic rock is further west, including another kingly palace, from which, 
within the glorious range of scenery there obtained, the Gillies Hills are 
seen which shut out a sight of the battle-field of Bannockburn. On the 
south are steep, wooded hills ; on the east, beyond the town and several 
abbey ruins, the Forth wanders and curves through a glorious country 
of verdure to romantic Edinburgh. On the northeast are grand hills 
again. " But on the north, northwest and west who shall describe what 
lies unfolded to the eye; the vales of the Allan, the Teath and the Upper 
Forth leading away through expanses of the most ornate loveliness to 
such scenery as that of the Trosachs and to the combinedly grandest and 
most graceful forms of highland landscape? All the foreground and 
the middle view are of surpassing loveliness ; and all the background 
towers aloft at a great distance in peaks which are clad in enow or 
wreathed in clouds and which rest like a vast blue rampart against the 
sky." There is not a square mile of land between Stirling Castle and 
Moray Firth in which the traveler would not grow subdued at the view 
and enthusiastic in the description. There is a mass of shattered towers 
and walls, near the entrance to the Firth of Forth, which for centuries 
was held against the King and the people by the proud house of Doug- 
las. In " Marmion " is a powerful description of it — Tantallon Castle, 
hanging over the margin of the deep. In front of it is a gigantic boulder, 
rising from the water. It is a mile in circumference, and is believed to 
have once been the dwelling place of a disciple of St. Kentigern who 
watched and waited for a favorable opportunity to reach the mainland 
and preach the gospel. 

The promontories which here jut out into the ocean before you 
come to Edinburgh have more than one ruined castle to make them the 
more portentous, and more than one rugged spot where the English 
troops spilled good Scotch blood upon the rocks. Across the Firth are 
enticing scenes of highland and lowland character, and in a beautiful in- 
land sheet of water, diversified with mysterious islands, there is found a 
fair reason for loitering. On one of the islands is a castle in which 
Mary was imprisoned by her lords, the same piece of land, not more 
than two acres in extent, having once been a military station of an early 
Pictish king. Nearer the coast again is St. Andrew's, a town placed 



THE ACTUAL HIGHLANDS. 1 67 

upon a rocky shelf which hangs above a wide bay, but whose history 
goes back into tradition. Perhaps St. Andrew's bones are here, as the 
people say, and that a pious monk brought them from Greece, converted 
the Pictish king who held the land and built a stone chapel and tower, 
which are still solidly upon their foundations. The town is the seat of a 
university in which Thomas Chalmers was educated, and after he had 
made a name he returned to it as a professor. 

The scenery toward Perth and far into the country is among the 
most beautiful in Scotland. From Loch Katrine in the south, whose 
waters are beautified, if possible, by the " Lady of the Lake," to the 
masses of the Grampian hills all is romance ; with dark mountains 
towering around bright lakes and streams and waterfalls dashing down 
gorges, whose rocks and trees strive for the mastery. Then upon the 
plain of the Tay is Perth, a fair city founded by the Romans, after they 
had returned from the Grampian hills and their victorious campaign 
against the savage tribes of Caledonia. When they retired from the 
island, Perth became the principal capital of the Pictish kings, and, under 
Bruce was the center of the Scottish Government. 

But we must pass the highlands of Perthshire, with their lordly 
castles and dark passes in which Highlanders and Lowlanders met in bat- 
tle ; just nod to busy Dundee, once the residence of some of Scotland's 
noblest families; leave the bold masses of the Grampian hills behind and 
approach the wild coast of the German Ocean which lies below Aberdeen. 
The immense mountain of ruins upon a precipitous rock which stands 
so boldly out to sea is the remains of a castle where nearly two hun 
dred Covenanters were imprisoned in a muddy vault, some of them tor- 
tured and most of them abused. The granite city of Aberdeen is a fit- 
ting incident of the country, and a road toward splendid views of the 
Grampians, along the banks of the River Dee, leads to the magnificent 
seclusion of Balmoral Castle. Byron's bold genius has soared over the 
wild and majestic mountains and crags of this region, Aberdeen being 
his early home. 

THE ACTUAL HIGHLANDS. 

Much of the country between Aberdeen and Moray Firth is hilly 
and bleak — a corn, grass and cattle district — it being a prelude to the 
actual highlands of Northern and Western Scotland. Inverness is the 
very gate to the highlands, it being encompassed by gardens, woods and 
hills, while in the distance are their large brothers, gigantic mountains. 
Six miles away, upon a desolate moor, are several green mounds and a 
rude stone monument. They mark the battle-field of Culloden, where 



1 68 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

the royal troops crushed the Highland army and buried the hopes of the 
Stuart family. 

Inverness is not only the gateway to the highlands, but is the north- 
ern extremity of the Caledonian Canal, which is a number of lochs arti- 
ficially connected, stretching from Moray Firth, southwest, to the oppo- 
site coast of Scotland. "It may be generally described as a long, narrow 
gallery, having the water for its floor, the mountain for its walls and the 
sky for its roof." The western entrance to the canal is guarded by a fort 
built in Cromwell's time, and over fort, valley, loch and hill towers Ben 
Nevis, Britain's highest rrountain. In fact, the glories of highland and 
lowland, from ocean to ocean, lie before one from the summit of His 
Majesty. The route along the Caledonian Canal is furthermore blessed 
by the Fall of Foyers, on Loch Ness, which lies near Inverness. It is 
shut in by savage cliffs and precipices and pronounced by many the most 
magnificent cataract in Britain, 

From Inverness around the opposite shore of the Firth an unbroken 
line of precipices runs to a narrow bay which stretches quite a distance 
toward the seemingly endless chains and masses of hills and mountains. 
At the bay the solid rampart is broken. A tongue of land projects into 
it, and on the other side the promontories continue their stately course 
as far as the eye can trace it. The town of Cromarty is built upon this 
peninsula — Hugh Miller's native place. A noble river which flows through 
the mountainous region, through gorges and over ledges of rocks, en- 
tering gloomy lochs and receiving tributaries on its way, also passes the 
scene of Miller's labors as a stone mason. Within walking distance 
for one as vigorous as he, were also interesting forts and castles, as well 
as mystic mounds and circles of stones whose construction is attributed 
to the Druids. 

The shires of Sutherland and Caithness, with their dark forests and 
hills, lead toward the Orkney and Shetland islands. Those wild, rocky, 
mountainous remains of the ocean's fury are, many of them, uninhabita- 
ble. What few people subsist from the stormy sea, and their scant 
patches of land, on which they raise cattle and ponies, are of the old 
Scandinavian stock. This country of the vikings is not included among 
the highlands of Scotland, as the people are not of the Celtic race. 

The Hebrides Islands, on the contrary, which is the name given to 
the various groups lying along the entire western coast of Scotland, 
were originally settled by Norwegians, and held by them until the mid- 
dle of the fourteenth century, when the chief of the Macdonalds con- 
quered them, becoming the first Lord of the Isles, The Scandinavian 
element has almost disappeared, Gaelic being the language generally 



THE WELSH AND SNOWDON. 1 69 

spoken. As a rule, the condition of the people is miserable, agriculture 
being followed with some success, however, in the islands of the Firth of 
Clyde. The raising of Kyloes, or black cattle, is followed to some 
extent; but cattle, horses and sheep are small, almost diminutive, the 
latter not weighing more than twenty pounds. The scenery of the Heb- 
rides is of a most unusual character. Off the coast of Mull, an island 
forming a portion of the shire of Argyle, is the smallest of the Heb- 
rides. It is merely a dot on the map. But Fingal's Cave, Nature's 
wonderful marine temple, is one of the most picturesque works in the 
world and a portion of that island. 

The next isle south of Staffa is almost as small, but is one of the 
hallowed spots of the world. On it landed St. Columba, the missionary 
descended from an Irish king and a Scottish princess, having, with 
twelve disciples come over from the Emerald Isle in a wicker boat. 
The island had been presented to him by a British king, but, as it 
was the chief seat of the Druidical worship, his landing was opposed by 
the priests, who pretended to be Christian monks in rightful posses- 
sion of the land. But a foothold was obtained, a monastery founded, 
and Christianity introduced to the savage Picts and Scots. In the 
thirteenth century Rome drove out the primitive forms of worship, the 
islands having previously suffered from the piratical Danes. From the 
earliest days lona was considered a sacred isle, and in an old cemetery, 
near a Norwegian chapel, are the tombs of Scandinavian, Irish and 
Scotch kings ; the last of the royal bodies deposited is said to have 
been that of the historic Macbeth. 

The islands and mainland of Argyleshire present some of the most 
impressive of the highland scenery, and it is hard to realize that the 
dark, columned caves, the granite mountains, the cool, bright lochs, the 
deep, green valleys, and the broad moors are the property of half a 
dozen great nobles of Scotland. One of the largest of the land owners, 
who are removing their tenants that their sheep may have more room, 
is the Duke of Argyle, whose eldest son is the Marquis of Lome, Queen 
Victoria's son-in-law. 

THE WELSH AND SNOWDON. 

The natives of Wales do not accept the term W^elsh as applied to 
themselves. They speak of themselves as the Cymri and their language 
as Cymraeg. The Cymri separate it, with great positiveness, from the 
branch of the Celtic tongue spoken in Ireland, the Isle of Man and the 
Scottish highlands. 

This brave and hardy people who take such pride in the antiquity 



170 • THE world's fair, 

of their race are undoubtedly the purest of the Celts, The original 
three tribes, which also occupied the Isles of Man and Anglesea, received 
the Britons in their mountain homes, as they were driven from the 
wooded and fertile tracts of England by both Romans and Saxons, 
They are not given to emigration, and even when they settle in demO' 
cratic America prefer to intermarry among themselves. The Welsh 
possess one of the most copious languages in the world. It contains at 
least eighty thousand words, among which are many derived from the 
Sanskrit, By means of comparative philology some of their scholars 
have traced the home of the Cymri — at least to their own satisfac- 
tion — to Southern Hindustan, At all events, the Welsh are as jealous 
of the purity of their blood as the proudest royal family, and their clan- 
nishness is an excusable weakness. 

Their earliest literature goes back to the first years of the Christian 
era and arose from the bards of the Druids, Three was a mystic num- 
ber with this religious sect whose human sacrifices, fire worship, knowl- 
edge of the heavenly bodies, astrology, and divination from the flight of 
birds and the entrails of animals, bespeak for them an Eastern origin. 
They are said to have come into Europe with the Cimmerians, or Celts, 
and their bards, who composed one of the three classes into which they 
were divided, pretended to pass down from one generation to another 
songs commemorative of their struggles with Rome, From Gaul they 
probably passed with the Celts to England, Wales, the Isle of Man, 
Scotland and Ireland. Their religion was conveyed to the people 
orally, and to the depths of the great oak forests of England and the 
solitudes of the Welsh mountains the youth resorted to the priests to be 
instructed in their lore. The most that we know of their dark rites and 
the principles of their religion and morality, which were often of the 
most elevated stamp, is gleaned from the Welsh triads, a species of 
verse, in three limbs, dwelling upon some historical or spiritual fact, and 
sung by native bards until the printing press snatched the verses from 
their lips. The best historical account which we have of them is from the 
pen of Julius Caesar. He and his successors saw that the Druids had 
bound the Celts in chains of steel ; for the priests were not only their 
religious teachers, but were their judges. The Romans, therefore, as a 
long step toward conquering Britain, entered into a campaign of exter- 
mination against the Druids. The last stronghold of the ancient wor- 
ship was the island of Anglesea, on the northwest coast of Wales, in the 
Irish Sea. The strait which separates it from the mainland is spanned 
by two fine bridges, a suspension and a railway tubular bridge. Over 
these triumphs of modern science the traveler passes to the island 



THE WELSH AND SNOWDON. I7I 

which contains the remains of an arch-druid's palace, surrounded by the 
college buildings of his subordinates. 

The Romans drove out the Druid priests and overran Wales, but 
did not conquer the people. Neither did they devote themselves en- 
tirely to war ; for both in the northwestern and the southeastern districts 
of the country are galleries running into the mountains and remains 
of aqueducts, employed in the digging and washing of gold. Beau- 
tiful ornaments fashioned from the precious metal have also been 
found. 

Wales is rich in nearly all of the minerals. The immense coal fields 
are in the south, some of the measures being estimated to be two miles 
thick. There are copper, lead, iron, zinc and silver in the north ; also 
immense quarries of slate and limestone. Welshmen are miners, colliers, 
quarrymen and iron workers, almost to a man. Snowdon, the grandest 
and loftiest mass in Southern Britain, is being yearly undermined for 
roofing slates. 

Snowdon is a mountainous region, the highest point of which, 
Y Wyddfa, is 4,000 feet above the sea. The English called the district 
Snowdon from its appearance in winter, but the Britons spoke of it as Eryri 
because it was a great eyrie, or breeding place for eagles. Its lakes, 
groves and cataracts have witnessed English armies marching against 
the irregular bands of Wales and marching away again before Welsh 
arrows, cold, rain, sleet and starvation, Arthur and the Knights of the 
Round Table, Merlin and other legendary characters are associated with 
Snowdon ; and it was the stronghold of the patriotic Llewellyn, the last 
native Prince of Wales who stood bravely for his country's independ- 
ence. The son of the Edward to whom he owed his death was born in 
Carnarvon Castle, a grand old structure which fronts the Isle of Anglesea. 
When an infant, it is said, the King "induced the Welsh chieftains to ac- 
cept him as their prince without seeing, by saying that the per- 
son whom he proposed to be their sovereign was one who was not 
only born in Wales but could not speak a word of the English 
language." 

The Wyddfa, the pinnacle of Snowdon, is the embodiment of Wales, 
as Ben Nevis is of Scotland. It is about thirty feet in diameter and sur- 
rounded on three sides by a low wall. On three sides are dizzy 
precipices. In the hottest of weather the atmosphere is cold and brac- 
ing and the spirits are joyously carried over much of the mountainous 
land of Cambria, across an arm of the Irish Sea to the Lake Region of 
Northwestern England and in the opposite direction to faint outlines on 
the horizon — the hills of Ireland. 



172 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

•THE IRISH. 

The Irish, notwithstanding their misfortunes and oppressions, are 
among the greatest races of antiquity. Since Cromwell's time, when the 
English first really established their supremacy in arms over them, they 
have fought for the establishment of their independence bravely, though 
not always cautiously and wisely. Their line of kings goes back into 
the dim ages when many of the Celtic tribes were being driven out of 
Asia by the Scythians — the future Goths and Englishmen. The resi- 
dence of these almost mythological monarchs was a spot called the 
Hall of Tara, at Teamor, County Meath, in the eastern part of the 
island. Here the chief priests and bards met triennially to form the laws 
which were to govern the five principalities, afterwards consolidated into 
one kingdom. The kings of Ireland married into the royal families of 
their race in Gaul, and were connected by ties of blood with the great 
chiefs of the Picts across the water. Schools of astronomy, philosophy, 
poetry and history were founded by the Druids and protected by the 
kings. Tara continued the center of the educational and military life of 
the island, and from the four districts into which the kingdom was 
divided a province was formed, which surrounded the national capital. 
Later the warlike monarchs of Ireland not only joined the Picts in their 
wars against the Romans, but penetrated into Gaul, one of their kings 
being killed on the banks of the Loire and another, the last of the pagan 
rulers, at the foot of the Alps. 

IRISH CITIES AND SCENERY. 

Dublin, the successor of Tara, as the capital of the country, is 
somewhat shorn of its importance since the Bank of Ireland has occu- 
pied the former House of Parliament. But its public buildings are 
grand, its streets wide and its squares very imposing. The city is 
surrounded by a delightful boulevard, nine miles in length. Within 
these bounds, perhaps the most imposing locality is Trinity College, 
standing in the midst of an elegant park and several squares, which 
cover forty acres of ground. Clinging to this stately seat of learning is 
so much of the irresistible eloquence, delicious humor, keen wit and 
searching sarcasm, in which the Irish nature glories, that Trinity Col- 
lege, or the University of Dublin, is the embodiment of the genius of the 
land; Burke, Grattan Goldsmith, Sheridan and Swift form a galaxy 
of stars, or rather a five-pointed star, which ever gleams over Dublin. 

That picturesque city, in the center of the valley of the Lee, with its 
old red sandstone houses, approached through one of the noblest har- 



IRISH SCENERY. 



'7- 



bors in the world, past great batteries, fertile islands and splendid villas 
along the river's bank — this is Cork, so close to the heart of the true 
Irishman. Then there are Limerick, on the Shannon, and, in the north, 
the great city and port of Belfast, which is the Liverpool of Ireland — a 
rushing and bustling, a commercial and manufacturing city of which 
Great Britain is proud. 

It is outside of the cities of Ireland that the hard struggle for physical 
and national life is progressing. From the western and northern coasts, 
which are of Scandinavian wildness, to the flat, sandy coasts of the east, 
one-half the surface is bog, water, rock and poor soil. The richest 
farming country is the broad belt from west to east included between 
Galway and Limerick. Nearly one-seventh of Ireland is covered with 
peat. The equable and mild climate of the country is, to some extent, 




an offset to the generally unfavorable character of the soil. The temper- 
ature ranges only a few degrees the year through, the extremes being 
forty and sixty degrees. The prevailing westerly winds come laden with 
the warm vapors of the Gulf Stream, so that vegetation is always green, 
and the Emerald Isle is not poetic license. 

The spots of supreme freshness in Ireland are, therefore, very many. 
The loveliness of Irish scenery, so the world has decided, is concentrated 
in the Lakes of Killarney, in the extreme southwestern part of the 
island. The country around them receives not only the charm of their 
waters but the gentle influences from the western ocean, so that the 
wooded shores of the lakes and the gracious mountains beyond are 



174 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

painted with all the shades of color from the light green of the arbutus 
to the dark firs of the highlands. 

From Killarney lakes to the Giant's Causeway is through Ireland, 
in a diagonal line, and no two pictures could present a stronger contrast. 
In place of the rounded lines of the Killarney hills and the green shadows 
which fall over the lakes is a dreary coast piled thick with rocky col- 
umns, presenting the appearance of a stupendous array of piles, stretch- 
ing out into the sea in rows and masses. The Causeway proper is a 
platform of these rocks which extends between rugged mounds and 
groups of pillars from a cliff down into the sea. The name is given to 
it because of the Celtic tradition' that the walk was built by giants as the 
commencement of a causeway to the opposite coast of Scotland. 

The remains of antiquity which are found in every part of Ireland 
make it a most interesting country to the curiosity-seeker and the stu- 
dent. They consist of mounds and burial stones, earthen ramparts, 
round towers and castles. Bronze weapons and gold ornaments are 
continually being turned up from under the soil. Of later date are 
houses built of stone and earth, like beehives, and religious buildings of 
various styles of architecture. The warlike spirit of the middle ages is 
also shown in many huge fortified castles. 




THE GERMANS. 

[HE origin of the name German is somewhat doubtful, although 
for several centuries about all that was known of the Teutonic 
tribes was that a warlike people lived beyond the Rhine who 
fought with spears, viz.: "ger" (spear) "mann" (man). Sub- 
sequently, when the Romans came to know more of them, it 
was learned that they were light-haired and powerfully built, 
blue-eyed, independent, tireless in war, industrious agricultur- 
ists, lovers of chastity and superstitious. They had bards and 
priests, sacred groves, and worshiped gods and giants. The 
God of War was their chief divinity. They elected their chiefs, 
who were often believed to be descended from Woden. The Franks, 
the Goths, the Vandals, the Teutons and the Burgundians were all Ger- 
man tribes which are intimately connected with the history of Germany, 
France and Rome. 

It is not our purpose to go into details regarding the mythical and 
ancient history of Germany, or to trace the gradual steps by which her 
small states were united into one empire. The Germans are not the 
result of a conglomeration of races but are a combination of* kindred 
tribes, some of which have always given rulers to the country. When 
Charlemagne, the great Frank, ruled over them, their empire was con- 
solidated by the subjection of the Saxons, the last of the German tribes 
which refused to submit to him. He also compelled them to become 
Christians. But during the weaker reign of subsequent rulers the power 
of the king depended on the dukes who elected him, and their influence 
has ever since been great. To this must be added, during the last cent- 
ury, the gradual advance of the cause of popular government. Yet the 
strong traits of the German Empire and the German people are the 
same as when they were yet unwelded tribes ; a love of discipline and 
thoroughness, combined with a love of independence, and a genius for 
war were added to a stern family affection. 

175 



176 THE world's fair. 

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE ARMY. 

The Bund, or reunion of the German States, which was consoli- 
dated in 1 87 1 by the King of Prussia accepting the sovereignty of Ger- 
many, was formed for the protection of the territory of the Bund and 
for the care of the welfare of the German people. The Federal Coun- 
cil, or the Upper House of the empire (Bundesrath), is composed of 
members who are annually appointed by the governments of the various 
states. Unless the territory of the empire is attacked the Emperor is 
required to obtain the consent of the Bundesrath before he can declare 
war, make peace or enter into treaties with foreign countries. He is, 
however, the commander-in-chief of the army and navy and superintends 
the execution of the laws. The Emperor appoints the committees for 
the army and navy, except one who is appointed by Bavaria ; all the 
other committees are elected by the Federal Council. Each committee 
consists of representatives of at least four states of the Empire. 

The members of the Reichstag, or Lower House, are elected by 
the people for a term of three years, at the average rate of one deputy 
for every 100,000 inhabitants. All imperial laws must receive the sanc- 
tion of both of these bodies and the Chancellor of the empire. The 
Reichstag may be dissolved by the Federal Council with the consent of 
the Emperor, but not oftener than once during each session. A new 
election must take place within sixty days after such dissolution. 

The Imperial Chancellor is president ex officio of the Bundesrath, 
and he is also the disbursing offtcer of the imperial revenues. He is 
required to make an annual statement to both the Bundesrath and the 
Reichstag. 

The military system of Germany is that which was in force in Prus- 
sia. Every German, capable of bearing arms, must serve in the stand- 
ing army from his twenty-first to his tv/enty-eighth year ; and for five 
years more he must be in the landwehr. In war, every soldier is 
bound to obey the Emperor, unconditionally. In times of peace the 
Bavarian troops have their own organization and are not subject to the 
Emperor's orders. The sovereigns of the other states select the lower 
grades of officers, while the higher ones are appointed by the Emperor. 

EDUCATIONAL DRILL. 

Army discipline is carried into the educational domain and for at 
least five years every German child is obliged to go through with a 
course of mental training which in many countries would be considered 
unbearable. The system of instruction is much the same as that of the 



EDUCATIONAL DRILL. 177 

United States, there being common elementary schools, Latin schools, 
Real schools intended to educate those in the higher branches who can not 
take a university course, the gymnasiums covering the ground of our 
high schools and lower colleges, and the universities to which students 
graduate from the gymnasiums. The conflict in the system comes as to 
the precise relation of the Real schools to the gymnasiums and univer- 
sities ; the former are divided also into higher trade schools and higher 
common schools,the chief distinction between them and the gymnasiums 
being that more attention is given to the natural sciences and practical 
arts than to classical training. The features most prominent in these 
departments of the German system are found in the scientific and classi- 
cal courses of our colleges and universities. The order of advancement 
for the German who is designed for a university training is through the 
common school, Latin school and gymnasium. 

The foundation of the popular schools of Germany is always accorded 
to Charlemagne. This great King was a stern but a good father to all 
classes, and a monk who wrote in his time says that upon a certain occa- 
sion he visited one of the schools he had founded and saw that the 
sons of the nobles were far behind the children of poor parents in schol- 
arship. Dividing the poor children from the rich, he first addressed the 
former, thanking them for having obeyed his commands and promising 
them bishoprics and abbeys if they continued in their industrious ways. 
To the already abashed scions of nobility he turned with an angry coun- 
tenance : " Ye high-born sons of my most illustrious nobles ! " he roared, 
" Ye asses and coxcombs ! In the pride of your birth and your posses- 
sions, you despise my commands, and give yourselves up to idleness, riot 
and disorder ; but " — and here he raised his hand with a threatening 
gesture — "by the King of Heaven! if you do not straightway make 
up by diligence for your former neglect, you have little good to expect 
at the hands of Karl." 

The first German university was founded at Prague, within the 
present limits of Austria, in 1348. To the Hapsburgsis due the univer- 
sity of Vienna and the Palatine Elector Rupert made Heidelberg 
possible. 

But Charlemagne made the system possible which, in its rounded 
proportions, came from the patient hands of Frederick William HI., 
King of Prussia. 

The gymnasium student commences to ape the manners of the 
university student, beginning to smoke and drink, and being unhappy 
unless he can be the member of some mysterious society. He is no 
longer subject to corporeal punishment and looks exultantly forward to 



178 THE world's fair. 

the time when it is something of an honor to brave not only the univer- 
sity laws but those of the state. 

The gymnasiast who aspires to be a typical German student has 
already a score of songs at his tongue's end, as no university gathering 
is complete without them. Students' songs are students' songs the world 
over, but one rests upon safe ground when he asserts that in no country 
in the world is so large a proportion of them patriotic and fit to be 
sung in private parlors as those poured out by hearty German students 
over their wine and beer; and, though no defense is attempted of drink- 
ing customs, it should always be remembered that German wine is very 
gentle, and (as a student writes) "that their beer is far more mighty of 
the hop than of the malt." 

There are meetings within doors and meetings without, and special 
" Commers," which are celebrated by an excursion on rafts, or on horse- 
back and in carriages, to some neighboring town. The revelers are at- 
tired in their most fantastic colored costumes, with their naked swords 
in hand, and their long pipes in mouth, and as they approach their des- 
tination are usually welcomed by the discharge of artillery, for the vil- 
lagers are aware that as long as the students are in their midst fun and 
money will freely circulate. The usually sleepy waiters of the village 
inn are bustling to and fro, preparing viands, the cooks are ruthlessly 
slaughtering bird, beast and fish, every house flies a flag or 19 hung with 
a festoon, while the pretty girls show their beaming faces and their bright- 
est ribbons as the noisy cavalcade rushes past. For twenty-four hours 
the whole village is turned upside down and inside out ; not a drop of 
blood runs stagnant in man, woman or child. 

People who have a tendency to pick flaws in anything which has a 
reputation for comparative perfection often sneer at the liberty which is 
allowed the student of the university, making, among other hypercritical 
jstatements, the one that the higher educational institutes of Germany 
;are merely mediums by which the professors advertise their learning , in 
..a word that the universities are more for the professors than the students. 
The preliminary drill is as strict as if the student were a soldier ; all at 
tonce his bonds are loosened, a feast is spread before him, made up chiefly 
^of substantial, and he can eat or not, as he chooses. Philosophical, 
scientific and historical pabulum, taken from world-wide sources, is offered, 
and the student may take it or go off and drink beer or fight a duel. 

It is true enough that the Germans have come to the conclusion 
that after one has arrived at man's estate he ought to know what he 
needs in the way of education, and if he does not choose to avail himself 
of the best privileges which the nation can offer, it is quite certain that 



EDUCATIONAL DRILL. I 79 

he has not the necessary enthusiasm and strength of will to be a credit 
to himself or the university. The average age of German university 
students is also greater than in most other countries, so that anything 
but freedom would be doubly ridiculous — freedom, within limits. 

Each university has its governing bodies, such as Select and Great 
Senates, with the rector at the head. There are regular professors and 
those who are privileged to lecture upon special topics ; from the latter 
body are often recruited most valuable members of the salaried faculty. 
The oldest professor of each faculty is the dean. Universities have 
not on.ly their governing boards but their courts of justice, their magis- 
trates and beadles, all, however, conforming and in direct connection 
with the laws and officers of the empire. The chief beadle lives near 
the college, and the prison is in the upper part of his house. If neces- 
sary he can arrest without a warrant, but must report at once to the 
magistrate of the university. Various offenses against academical and 
state laws are punishable by reproof, fine, incarceration, and expulsion 
for from one year to five years, with a publication of the nature of the 
disgrace in every university of Germany. The university court of jus- 
tice may in its discretion also have the offender confined in an ordinary 
state prison. The student is given great latitude as to attending lectures, 
but he is made to feel that he is still amenable to a double set of laws ; 
and the penalties are especially severe if he joins a revolutionary union, 
which is not of great rarity. The secret university societies have made 
the government much trouble, but upon several occasions have united 
in one grand spirit of patriotic action, which has made it possible for the 
true German to forget a hundred rough pranks in the splendid vigor 
and heart of the student. 

In fact, the association of the university " burschenschafts " had no 
small part in giving direction to the movement of national independence 
which resulted in the freedom of Germany from Napoleonic dominion. 
It was during the few years preceding the great battle of Leipsic that 
German students betook themselves so feverishly to gymnastics and 
sword exercises. Each student, in becoming a member of the great 
Burschenschaft, bound himself to become a soldier, and at once went 
into training. A broad patriotism for the German Fatherland and the 
German speech rested upon faithfulness to the Prince. But revolu- 
tionary tendencies in the shape of such constitutional declarations as 
" the law of the people shall be the will of the Prince " soon gave birth 
to bolder utterances and even to bloody deeds. In 1819 a university 
student murdered the Russian Counsellor of State, persuaded that the 
deed was justified by patriotism ; unsuccessful attempts of a like nature 



l80 THE world's fair. 

were made ; mistaken ideas of liberty beclouded the moral natures of 
thousands of German youth ; a republicanism such as even America 
might be proud of also walked forth from the university associations ; 
but even the average of the utterances of German students turned so 
far away from the conservatism upon which the country's institutions 
were founded that the governments of both Prussia and Germany 
destroyed the Burschenschaft, and thereafter exercised an untiring 
censorship over the university societies. 

Yet, even in the matter of attending lectures the student is bound 
by certain general rules. It is optional with him what course he will at- 
tend, but he must give notice to the professor who has it in charge, when 
he has determined. In the German states the student must attend a cer- 
tain number of lectures in order to be entitled to the state examination ; 
and his so-called departure certificate which accords him that privilege, 
not only vouches for his scholarship, but has something to say of hiji 
moral conduct and as to whether he has ever participated in any unlaw- 
ful combination of a political nature. The professor is not only bound 
to the state to deliver a certain number of lectures per week, but it is his 
duty to deliver special lectures within his department, whenever a suf- 
ficient number of students assure him of an adequate remuneration for 
his trouble. 

STUDENTS' NICKNAMES. 

The German universities are as particular as the American colleges 
to make a freshman feel his inferiority. He is called a fox and is made 
to perform many little services for the " old moss heads," as they call them- 
selves. The seniors are also known as " old houses." It was formerly 
the custom of the seniors to require the foxes to black their boots and 
to write out their college notes. 

"The student receives different names according to the duration of 
his abode at college. While he yet vegetated in the gymnasium he was 
a Frosch — a frog. In the vacation which lay between the time of his 
quitting the gymnasium and entering the university he chrysalized him- 
self into a mule, and on entering the university he becomes a Kameel — 
a camel. This happy transition-state of a few weeks gone by, he comes 
forth finally, on entering a Chore — a fox, and runs joyfully into the new 
student life. During the first half-year he is a gold fox, which means 
that he has rich gold in plenty yet ; or he is a fat fox, meaning that he 
yet puffs himself up with gold. In the second half-year he becomes a 
Brand-fuchs, or fox with a brand, after the foxes of Samson. The fox 
is then over, and they wash the eyes of the new-baked young student, 



since during the fox-year he was held to be blind, not being endued with 
reason. From young Bursche (student) he advances next to old 
Bursche, and then to Be-mossed Head, the highest state of honor to 
which man can attain." The student is dubbed a brand-fox because of 
a certain ceremony through which he is put by his superiors. 

DUELS. 

One of the most common forms of oppression by which the Old 
Houses assert their superiority over the foxes is to pretend to discover 
cause for a duel in something which is said or done ; and if the fresh 
young man should be worked into such a state of defiance as actually to 
accept the challenge, he may be coolly ignored as being unworthy of 
attention. If equals desire to bring a duel one has only to call the other 
" dummen Junger," or "stupid youth " and the business is done, unless 
a retraction follows. If the offense or injury calls for some graver form 
of insult, " Infamen," or "infamous fellow" is the applied epithet. 
The weapons usually chosen are long, flexible, two-edged swords with 
square ends and basket hilts. Pistols or heavy, crooked sabres are 
employed when one of the parties is not a student, or the cause of dis- 
pute is very serious. If the student fights with a military man he uses 
the straight sabre. 

Most of the duels between the students are hatched at their general 
meetings, which are held weekly. It is customary for them to divide 
into corps, or companies, according to nationalities or provinces, and 
few meetings will be concluded without a whole table being pitted against 
another, not only in the display of wit over their beer, but in the more 
exciting display of flashing blades. But duels are unlawful ; so these 
differences- are usually settled in a large rented room of some suburban 
inn. When the floor of the room is found marked with a certain chalk 
character, it is known by any subsequent comers that the quarters may 
be occupied by rival swordsmen for at least two duels. 

At the appointed time each participant is conducted into a cham- 
ber by his witness and second, and clothed in the dueling costume, which 
consists usually of a cap to protect the face, a glove and quilted cover- 
ing for the arm and high stuffed leather trousers. Before hostilities 
actually commence the duelist also puts on a neckcloth, which sometimes 
reaches to his nose, so that a small portion of his face and his breast is 
the only part of his body really exposed. 

Being equipped, the swordsmen are conducted into the hall, and 
while the seconds are marking out the lines within which they must 



1 82 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

fight and arranging the other preliminaries, the principals march up and 
down, each supporting his mighty sword arm upon his witness. The 
duelists may decide to fight with small caps or with large caps, with 
cravats or without cravats, with bandages or without them; they may 
also have the contest terminate with a certain number of roundi, if the 
surgeon does not decide that a wound is too serious to warrant further 
action, or the trial may end with a wound which draws blood within a 
definite number of rounds. The students are closely attended by their 
witnesses and seconds, the umpire standing some distance away between 
the combatants, and scoring the end of each round on a chair which 
stands before him. The seconds are armed with short, strong rapiers, 
with which they strike the swords apart when a stroke has been delivered, 
give advice and encouragement and see that the opponent presents his 
sword at such an angle that his champion will not fall upon its point 
when he lunges forward. They must, in fact, be remarkably skillful 
themselves, their object being to protect their combatant without inter- 
fering with the strokes of the adversary. The duties of the witnesses, 
who stand on the right side of the rivals, are confined to arranging dis- 
ordered costumes and supporting weary right arms when a halt has been 
called. 

Except the duels with the crooked sabre, in which the heavy, keen 
weapon, having reached its point, is drawn suddenly downward with great 
force, these contests seldom result seriously. But as we have noticed, 
there are strict academical laws against them, and as a neat reward is 
offered to those beadles who have prevented and detected the greatest 
number of them, the most secret chambers and grounds are often rudely 
invaded by these hounds of the law. Upon their approach the outpost 
whom the students have engaged gives notice of the threatened danger, 
and the dueling costumes are torn from the bodies of the students, 
there is a great scattering through doors and windows, into the woods, 
and each one finds his way back to the university as best he can. 

The beadles, however, often approach in disguise, as peasants and 
sportsmen, and not unfrequently a wholesale capture is made and the 
delinquents are marched off to the university prison in the attic of the 
chief beadle's house. In some universities the confinement is not so 
strict but that the prisoner may drink, smoke, and chat with his acquaint- 
ances whom the magistrate admits, and after a few days he may attend 
lectures, returning to his prison at night; in others books and visits are 
denied, the student can not leave the prison and during the daytime his 
bed is even carried away so that he can not lie down and smoke his sen- 
tence away. 



DUELS. 183 

Sword bouts and drinking bouts do not comprise the student's life ; 
neither is all said when he makes one of the great throng which pours 
forth to the dancing garden. He is invited to the homes of professors, 
becomes a welcome member of a city family, and joins reading circles, 
musical and social clubs. He takes long walks and rides' with his com- 
panions through the surrounding country and in winter enjoys one of 
the sledging processions, which issue forth from most university towns to, 




/' 



"^^^/^ 



the thundering cracks of heavy whips, lighted on their way by a mass 
of torches. And lastly, life at a German university is not child's play. 
While the student is at his work his brain buzzes with the strain ; from 
his necessities spring many of his uproars and pranks, and although he 
is not called upon to be a boor or a rough there is a fascination in the 
irrepressible height which his spirits reach when he has once set out to 
scour the rust of study hours from his variegated nature. 




:d ''<{''• 



AN OLD UNIVERSITY TOWN. 



GREAT UNIVERSITY LIGHTS, 1 85 

GREAT UNIVERSITY LIGHTS. 

Although a native is received into the university through the gymna- 
sium, only foreigners are admitted without examination. When the stud- 
ent has received his certificate of maturity, he not only can enroll himself 
in any university, but can continue his course at any number w^here he 
thinks he can obtain the most benefit. He can board and lodge where 
he pleases, and is virtually his own master. The regular course of study 
is four years, some of the universities requiring five years to complete 
the medical course. Dismissal from one university does not bar one out 
from another, but expulsion is final. 

Most of the great literary lights of Germany have availed them- 
selves of the privilege, studying, gleaning and experimenting at several 
universities before returning to enter the world of letters. The 
mighty Goethe went to Leipsic and Strasburg to study law, but found 
that love, philosophy, architecture, anatomy and anything but legal 
studies took hold of him. He also fled to Wetzlar that he might, if he 
would, drain the law libraries there; but instead he wrote the " Sorrows 
of Werther." There is nothing like the free range of university life in 
Germany to teach a young man wherein his strength lies ; for the best 
of everything is spread before him in one university or another. 

Bonn, Berlin and Gottingen succeeded in imposing the degree of 
Doctor of Law upon Heine, Germany's greatest lyric poet, but he met 
Schlegel at the former university and discovered that he could not live 
outside the charmed circle of literature. Furthermore he became a 
violent democrat, and on account of some letters addressed to Count 
Von Moltke found it advisable to spend the balance of his life in Paris. 

Next to Goethe, Schiller is recognized as Germany's greatest poet. 
Under the patronage of a duke he tried to press his soul into legal and 
medical fetters, but could not. Although he passed the examination for 
a military surgeon by the time he was of age, the publication of "The 
Robbers" during the same year told where his enthusiasm had been. A 
few years thereafter he was drawn to Leipsic, in which famous university 
town he met contemporaries worthy of his friendship. Schiller was after- 
wards invited to Weimar by the Grand Duke, Karl-August, and formed, 
for many years, one of a famous quartette, having as companions Goethe, 
Herder and Wieland. The ducal palace, the town church and public 
library still show frescoes illustrating their works, and striking busts 
which add a charm to the frescoes. Herder's tomb is in the town 
church and the bodies of Goethe and Schiller lie in the grand-ducal 
burial vault. 



1 86 THE world's fair. 

HEIDELBERG. 

The university of Heidelberg is the oldest of the German institutes 
after those of Prague and Vienna. It stands in the center of the town 
which wanders for nearly three miles along the banks of the rushing 
Neckar River, gleaming waters and the vine-clad hills on the further 
shore to attract the eyes on one side and the beautiful suburban gar- 
dens and lightning-rifted castle of the Electors Palatine on the other. 
The university is a plain structure, the library comprising over 200,000 
volumes, and the museums being contained in two separate buildings. 
The university has a world-wide reputation for the completeness of its 
departments, the castle is almost as celebrated as the university, and the 
beer tun, in the cellar of the deserted castle, has become as notorious as 
either. 

The castle ruins almost throw their fantastic shadows down the 
face of the rocky hill upon the houses of the town. The castle proper 
has as companion pieces two towers which show that the engines of war 
are almost as mighty as those of nature, and behind it, upon the same 
broad terrace, are masses of older palaces and towers, the entire pile rep- 
resenting different styles of architectures prevalent during three or four 
centuries. . Next to the Alhambra of Granada, the Castle of Heidel- 
berg has been pronounced the most magnificent ruin of the middle ages. 

In the valley below rushes the Neckar. The mountain of All Saints, 
with its ruined convent for a head dress, rises from the farther bank. 
Eastward the valley is shut in by hills ; westward the sweep over the 
plain of the Rhine is free. Beyond rise the blue Alsatian mountains. 

The dark paths of the castle gardens and their shadowy glens lead 
through valleys, fields and vineyards to the dense beech woods of the 
Odenwald and beyond the mountains themselves. These are fascinating 
and favorite walks for the students and villagers, and once upon the 
heights the picturesque and historical plain of the Rhine is before you. 
In the distance is Worms where the mythical Siegfried sought the hand 
of Kriemhild and where the unquestionable Luther fought a greater bat- 
tle than the " Nibelungen Lied" ever recorded. Toward the south is 
ancient Swabia, and now the German may look boldly over into France. 

LEIPSIC. 

Around Leipsic, the university city of Saxony, circled many of the 
whirlpools of the Reformation. Luther, the intellectual general of the 
movement, was a native of Saxony, and his first disciples were the students 
of the Wittenberg university, in which he taught as the professor of 



LEIPSIC. 187 

scholastic philosophy. The text of the Latin theses which he nailed on 
the door of the old Schlosskirche nov/ appears on the bronze doors of the 
new church, while heroic statues of himself and the scholarly, more gentle 
Melanchthon stand near the town hall. In the church the two are 
buried together, the two intellectual leaders of the Reformation in Ger- 
many — and if any of the princes of the German states can claim the 
questionable honor of defending religious liberty with the sword they are 
surely those of Saxony. Maurice of Saxony established the principle of 
liberty of worship for all the states of Germany, and, while the first 
bursts of public passion were raging, Luther owed his safety to Frederick 
the Wise. Under his protection he was lodged in a castle, and given that 
security and quiet which enabled him to translate the New Testament. 
The university of Wittenberg, afterwards merged with that of Halle, 
welcomed him when he again entered actively into the fight and over 
her he always hovered as over a favorite child ; but the learned profes- 
sors of the Leipsic university took up his work, and brought as power- 
ful weapons to bear as any of the royal protectors of Lutheranism. 

The university of Leipsic was founded during the first part of the 
fifteenth century, and having retained its landed estates in the city, it is 
a very wealthy landlord, and is enabled to support hundreds of poor stu- 
dents who are found worthy of assistance. It is great in all its depart- 
ments, and its professors have been among the most eminent scholars of 
Germany. The university buildings form an imposing pile, the most prom- 
inent being the Augusteum, which contains a great hall, lecture room, mu- 
seum and libraries. The structure is 300 feet in length and three stories 
high. 

Hahnemann studied in the university, and after he had practiced 
his profession for several years, he returned to Leipsic, with his confi- 
dence shaken in the old system. His family were suffering with disease 
and he was obliged to prescribe for them according to methods in which 
he did not believe. Virtually abandoning his profession, although he 
was struggling with poverty, he devoted himself to translating foreign 
medical works. It was while thus engaged that he obtained the clue to 
the law of Similia similibus, which is the foundation of the system of 
homoeopathy. Leipsic feels that he is one of her sons, and has a monu- 
ment erected to him. 

Of all the great men who have been citizens of Leipsic, John Bach, 
the musician, is among the greatest. He died in Leipsic, and his mon- 
ument commemorates the blessed fact that he lived to inspire more peo- 
ple than the most eloquent of orators. The city which so long has 
been a treasury of genius and learning is one of the leading book cen- 
ters of Germany, as well as one of the foremost of its commercial marts. 



1 88 THE world's fair. 

The downfall of Napoleon dates from Leipsic, 1813, rather than 
from Waterloo, 181 5. Here he was overpowered and smothered by the 
overwhelming forces of Prussia, Austria and Russia. Though the Old 
Guard fought with a dash which will always inspire enthusiasm as long as 
there is a history of war, and the entire army of France were heroes 
worthy of being defenders of their own soil, the invaders were expelled 
and Germany became free. 

AGRICULTURISTS. 

Perhaps, next to her soldiers and her scholars, Germany is rhost noted 
for her peasantry. The government earnestly supports agricultural 
colleges and the people have made of farming a scientific study. It is 
singular how, even among the most ignorant of the peasantry, the latest 
methods of irrigation and rotation of crops have been disseminated. 
The holdings are generally so small, however, that the most improved of 
farming implements do not cut a figure. But when each agricultural 
village sends its representatives to Leipsic, or some other city where the 
annual congress is held, it receives, with the return of its honored 
citizens, the result of the combined experience of thousands of farmers 
and scientists. The consequence is that not a square foot of land which 
can be cultivated goes to waste ; as the majority of the young men serve 
in the army the women form the bulk of the peasantry, which fact, also, 
accounts for the care which is taken that the profits of husbandry do not 
leak away in driblets of waste. 

Every province, furthermore, has it general society, consisting of 
members from all the rural districts. They are publicly questioned by 
a general committee as to lay of land, methods of irrigation, ways of 
managing cattle, results obtained from various methods of grafting, etc., 
etc. Statements are compared, discussions are in order, changes and 
improvements are suggested, and the farmers go home to discuss the 
discussions among themselves and in their local gatherings and instruct 
their wives and daughters — or, likely enough, give orders to them. 

Although, as he runs, the German agriculturist is a remarkably 
intelligent, industrious citizen his home is not what it should be. On 
account of the value of land he can not afford a garden, his yard being 
monopolized by the cows, and, within, his house is dark and contracted, 
it being one of many which are crowded into the narrow lane of a dirty, 
old town. But his floors are white and sanded and he can offer you 
coffee, black bread and rolls in the early morning, a cold-meat luncheon 
in the forenoon, and a dinner of meat, vegetables and dessert. In season, 
he furnishes his table with apples, plums, grapes and pears ; for there 



AGRICULTURISTS, 109 

are few farmers, however sm-all, who have not their orchards, and nearly 
every village has an experimental nursery of fruit trees. 

If the cattle and pigs, geese, hens and chickens were not so near, 
and the dining room table were not put to so many uses, and the drink- 
ing vessels corresponded to the mouths, the fare of the average German 
farmer would be appetizing enough ; but though there is plenty there is 
not freedom. The cattle, sheep and pigs are obliged to be penned, as a 
rule ; there is no room for them to roam. In summer the children and 
women go daily to the pasture and cut green fodder — grass and 
clover. Most of the land is devoted to pasturage. It is carefully sown 
to clover and the best of grasses, and tended with the same regard to 
individual blades and leaves as the florist gives to his most valued hot- 
house products. 

Occasionally it happens that the pasture land is irregular and does 
not incline at a convenient angle for irrigation. Then the -men and 
women remove the entire turf and layer of good earth. Next they take 
away enough unproductive subsoil to obtain the proper pitch, so that 
the water may run over the field. The meadow is graded, the fertile soil 
thrown over it, the turf relaid and the trenches formed through which 
the water is to be distributed. Sometimes a well is dug on the upper 
side of the inclined plane from which the water is run into the supply- 
ing canal which crosses the field, whether of grass, grain or vegetables. 
At the bottom of the field is the receiving canal. Between the two, 
crossing at right angles, are the narrow furrows for distribution. There 
is a science of grading the land so that the water will reach every part 
without disturbing the soil ; there is a science in knowing when to 
flood a field, so that the crops will not be chilled ; there is a science in 
the entire industry. Snow water should not be used, as it has a tend- 
ency to dissolve the earth and carry away its richest particles, "After 
the crops are gathered and the land clear, the water overflows two or 
three times a week during the autumn, till frost comes. In spring it is 
done in the night, two or three times a week, when it is dry and warm 
enough not to freeze, as this would injure the grass ; again, in June, just 
before haying time, as thus the stems are rendered softer and the mow- 
ing easier. Then for the fourth and last time, fifteen days after the 
mowing is finished, and when the stubble is dry and decayed, so that it 
will not take in nourishment which is destined for the new shoots, the 
whole is overflowed quite often till fifteen days before the grain harvest 
commences." 

A meadow thus coaxed and cultivated will yield enormous crops of 
feed, many fold greater than if left to the tender m.ercies of the cattle 



190 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



and sheep. The number of animals which it will support is increased 
enormously, and with this increase another advantage is derived. Not 
only are the animals housed and all manures carefully preserved to fer- 
tilize grain-field, orchards and gardens, but the rich fluids from the 
heaps, which most husbandmen allow to run to waste, are collected into 
trenches, drawn by suction pipes into carts and employed as an inval- 
uable fertilizer. 

There are few exceptions among the German agriculturists to this 
ceaseless round of bringing feed to the animals, and fertilizers to the 
fields ; in short, they allow nothing to take care of itself. But in some 
of the villages the cattle of the poor are allowed to crop the grass by 




A VILLAGE GROUP. 



the wayside for a few hours daily, the balance of their sustenance being 
obtained through the efforts of the children and the women, who scour 
hill and vale with knives and sickles, cutting blades and tufts of grass 
which have been overlooked by the harvesters and putting them into 
baskets or cloths. In the forests they may be seen gathering the cones, 
which fall from the fir trees, to use for fuel. 



THE FORESTS OF GERMANY. 

The peasants and villagers are very particular what they do in the 
forests, for if not actually government property they are under its super- 



THE FORESTS OF GERMANY. I91 

vision and control. The preservation and cultivation of timber lands 
have been as carefully studied as the science of ao^riculture, and there 
are few timber tracts of any extent in the empire through which one can 
pass without discovering miniature forests and groves, neatly fenced, 
which are destined to take the place of the giants which are constantly 
being felled. The most extensive forests are found in Central and 
Southern Germany, and, at different times and by different writers, they 
have all been merged into the depths of the Hercynian Forest, the bug- 
bear even of old Rome. 

The blackest member of this dense Hercynian Forest is the Black 
Forest, which for ninety miles throws a mighty covering of pine, beech 
and fir trees nearly to the summit of a mountain chain. The forest 
stretches from near Heidelberg, in Northern Baden, along the valley of 
the Rhine almost to the Swiss boundary. Within it rises the great Danube, 
and the black woods of fir, whose branches are so intertwined that the 
very twitter of the birds has a muffled sound, have given birth to more 
giants, hobgoblins and robbers to frown upon the dreams of childhood 
than all other localities upon the surface of the earth. But the Black 
Forest is not all shadow, from which horrors issue. For eight months 
in the year the summits of the mountains above it wear their caps of 
snow, and from its feet creep pretty valleys clad with grass and vines, 
for as many months. The Rhine side of the forest pitches the rivers 
down the steep rocks with tumult and roar of waters ; its eastern slopes 
shed them off so gently that they flow through the cool shades of the 
fragrant woods with just murmur enough to prove them alive. 

The Black Forest spreads out from the mountains for several miles 
on either side, and openings in it are planted to small fields of rye, oats 
or potatoes, with here and there a saw-mill humming and screaming on 
the bank of a picturesque stream ; or a farm house, with its wide project- 
ing roof and balcony beneath, appears ; or a whole village containing 
factory buildings where the rye straw is being turned into hats and some 
of the forest timber into clocks. Most of the strength of the Black 
Forest, however, goes into the masts and timbers of ships. 

But the important manufacturing processes go on in the little forest 
houses. Whatever the denizens of the Black Forest might have once 
been, they are now as harmless as the canary birds which they raise in 
the aviaries beneath their porcelain stoves. This is a great business with 
the foresters and can almost be included among the manufactures. But 
while the birds are trilling in their tropic heat, or hopping merrily about, 
the women are braiding straw or making and polishing different parts of 
clocks and watches. When the straw has been braided it will be taken 



192 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

to the factory, thrown into a vat, boiled in the dye and dried and ironed 
by men. In such a factory also can be seen flowers, wreaths and 
bouquets, fashioned and colored most beautifully by these forest peasant 
women. In the clock and watch factory it is noticed that the women and 
men there employed are merely putting the pieces together which are 
made m the cottages. Neither are the clocks all common in appearance, 
many of them being placed upon fine bronze and marble stands. When 
it is stated that about 180,000 of these wooden clocks are exported yearly 
from the Black Forest to all parts of Europe and America, no one will 
say that we have wasted words upon a very insignificant topic. 

Furthermore, the busy women and children of the Black Forest 
send out many of those wooden sets of villages, with those pyramidical 
fir trees, which have pleased the children of all lands. The spinning 
wheel, with wool or flax upon the distaff, is busy, when the women can 
snatch time from their farm and household labors ; the men give 
much of their attention to the raising of cattle, the country being better 
fitted for that branch of husbandry than for agriculture. And yet, not- 
withstanding there are few people who are more industrious and cheer- 
ful than these dwellers in the Black Forest, their houses are meanly fur- 
nished and their bill-of-fare rests upon pork, black bread, coffee and 
potatoes. 

The lace makers of Saxony, and many of the industrial classes all 
over Germany, are home manufacturers. Cotton and woolen fabrics, 
glass and iron manufactures and other branches which flourish in the 
large cities, have been drawn into the whirl of machinery. The toys of 
the Black Forest and the Hartz Mountains have their uses, and so do 
the gigantic guns of Herr Krupp. 

Their manufacture has founded a city. In the works and in the 
mines over 20,000 men are employed. A railway system, a telegraph 
system, printing and lithographic establishments, a fire brigade, hospi- 
tals, mansions and good dwelling houses are parts of Herr Krupp's 
wonderful machine. He speaks of his furnaces in four figures and the 
engines which supply the blasts which run his four-score giant hammers, 
and are behind the roaring, belching, hissing and deafening monster 
which we call works, are pushing the whole grand machine forward with 
the power of ten thousand horses. His foundries are at Essen. 

THE HIGH AND LOW GERMANS. 

It was in the vicinity of Essen and Miinster and westward along the 
Rhine that the old Saxon sprung up as a written dialect which was 
spoken in the lowlands of Central Germany from the Rhine to the Elbe. 



THE GERMAN AND THE RHINE. 



T93 



The Saxons were, and still are, the most prominent representatives of 
the Low Germans, or those inhabiting the lowlands of Germany. North 
of them were the Frisians, who were also Low Germans, and who 
formed so important an element in the composition of the Dutch. 

The most ancient confederation of Germanic tribes was called the 
Suevi. They were mentioned by Csesar as living between the Elbe, the 
Vistula and the Baltic, in what would now be Northern Prussia. Sub- 
sequently they appear in Southern Germany as the Swabians. The 
Bavari were also settled east of them on the Lower Rhine. The Swab- 
ians, Bavarians, Alsatians and Swiss belong to the High German division. 
There is still a modern Low German, but from Luther's time the High 
German of the south, and the middle High German, which closely 




WATCHING THE RHINE. 



resembled the Saxon, have been formed into the language which is now 
recognized as classical. His translation of the Bible had its effect in 
making of the various German tribes a united people, and since his day 
the distinction between High and Low Germans has not been so 
marked. 

Perhaps in Luther and the Rhine may be found the two influences 
which made United Germany possible. 

THE GERMAN AND THE RHINE. 

The Rhine is the national cord which binds Germany more firmly 
together than even her constitution. There are High and Low Germans, 
Bavarians and Hanovarians, but they are all agreed that the Rhine is 
the dearest river in the world, and if only one thing could be left to the 
Fatherland every strong native voice would shout, " The Rhine ! The 
Rhine ! Take all but the Rhine ! " The river is like the most pleasing 



type of the national character 

13 



broad; deep, rugged, tender, impetuous 



194 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

yet controllable. Primarily it draws its life from the glaciers and cold 
streams of the Alps. As it rushes along toward the Fatherland it 
receives hundreds of tributaries, until, no longer able to contain its vast 
supplies, it spreads out into the fickle Lake of Constance. Somewhat 
subdued in its impetuosity, it flows steadily toward France, but as if 
suddenly determining upon another course, turns abruptly to the north 
and becomes the loved one of Germany. If there is any one part more 
than another to which the national heart clings and over which it swells, 
■where " The Watch on the Rhine " will burst forth from German lips 
and echo along steep rugged banks, among ruined fortresses and heavily 
laden vineyards, it is that portion of the splendid river which lies between 
Mainz and Bonn, 

But others than the Germans have become drunk with the glories 
of the Rhine. One of the greatest of our American poets and most 
mellow of scholars exclaims : " O, the pride of the German heart is 
this noble river ! And right it is ; for of all the rivers of this beautiful 
earth, there is none so beautiful as this. There is hardly a league of its 
whole course, from its cradle in the snowy Alps to its grave in the sands 
of Holland, which boasts not its peculiar charms. By heavens ! If I 
were a German I would be proud of it, too ; and of the clustering grapes 
that hang about its temples, as it reels onward through vineyards, in a 
triumphal march, like Bacchus crowned and drunken. Bnt I will not 
attempt to describe the Rhine ; it would make this chapter much too 
long. And to do it well, one should write like a god, and his style flow 
onward royally with breaks and dashes, like the waters of that royal 
river, and antique, quaint and gothic times be reflected in it." 

FOLK LORE. 

To every old castle which hangs fondly over the banks of the 
Rhine, as if loth to give up the ghost, some weird tale of genius or giant, 
•or of bold knight and fair lady, is attached. There is scarcely a foot of 
ground which does not add its mite to the folk lore of Germany; and 
since many good people have become religious, the old ideas of sprightly 
dwarfs and helpful fairies have been strangely entangled with the God 
and Christ and angels of their faith. The Lord himself is supposed to 
•come to earth and in various forms, during the silent watches of the night, 
.mysteriously repair the leaking roof of the godly widow, caulk and paint 
the old boat of the good fisherman and put together ihe barrels of the 
pious cooper. The ghosts still haunt the castles, the fairies hide in the 
forests and the gnomes delve in the mountains, but the number of charac- 
ters is increased. Each city also has its wonderful story to tell. For 



FOLK LORE. 195 

instance there is Mainz, that massive, warlike city, which has presented a 
grim, stern front ever since Drusus built his castle before Christ lived. 
There is still to be seen a mass of stones, supposed to be his monument, 
and the remains of a vast Rom.an aqueduct. The town, with its ponder- 
ous fortifications, might remind one of how much that is Roman lies at the 
base of the German character. Gutenberg was born here also. But the 
quaint old German frau will tell you that Mainz is noted because when 
the Emperor Constantine was marching from it the Holy Cross appeared 
to him; that the city is famous, not that Charlemagne should have been 
born in it and should have built his palace of "Ingelheim" just within its 
walls, but that an angel should have visited him and given him warning 
of an attempt upon his life. The tale is spiced with magic herbs which 
enabled the king to understand the language of birds, with contests with 
mysterious knights in dark forests and all the etceteras. Charlemagne 




SCENE ON THE RHINE. 



made the hills and valleys, opposite to the palace which he called Angel's 
Home, to glisten with vineyards, and filled immense cellars with their 
rich products ; and another story runs that from his mighty tomb in 
Aix-la-Chapelle the great king steps forth annually, when the harvest is 
at hand, and blesses the villages, the cottages and the vineyards which 
he loved so well and which sleep so peacefully on the banks of the 
Rhine. 

The tomb from which Charlemagne's gigantic ghost is said to stalk 
is in a beautiful cathedral in Aix-la-Chapelle, which is in Rhenish Prussia 
near the Belgium boundary, and at the time of the great monarch's 
death was a convenient point from which to survey his mighty dominions. 
Charlemagne's chair, his portrait, and the pictures of other German em- 
perors who were crowned here previous to the middle of the sixteenth cent- 
ury, are also on exhibition in the cathedral or the town hall. Once in 
seven years it is customary to expose to public view a collection of 



196 THE world's fair. 

relics which Charlemagne received from the patriarch of Jerusalem 
and a Mohammedan caliph. They are usually preserved in a tower at 
the west end of the church. 

THE HARTZ MOUNTAINS. 

Leaving the Rhine to creep between the high embankments of the 
Netherlands, or to break through them with its cruel vigor of the spring- 
time, we pass to another region which is redolent with gnomes and 
fairies. The Hartz mountains are not even recorded on many maps, but 
who does not know of the Brocken, upon which the witches, under the 
masterly leadership of Goethe, celebrated their annual meeting during 
Walpurgis Night. From their sides of granite, limestone and sand- 
stone are shed the waters of the Weser and the Elbe, and the Brocken, 
as the pivot of the range, has been washed into those swelling lines 
which give it the appearance of a stupendous ant-hill built up in the 
clouds, or a distant world which might, any moment, set out to roll in 
space. 

THE BROCKEN AND GOETHE. 

When Mephistopheles suggests the desirability of a broomstick to 
ascend the mountain, where a visit was to be paid to the witches, Faust 
replies : 

While fresh upon my legs, so long I naught require 

Except this knotty staff. Besides, 

What boots it to abridge a pleasant way? 

Along the labyrinth of these vales to creep. 

Then scale these rocks, whence, in eternal spray, 

Adown the cliffs the silvery fountains leap: 

Such is the joy that seasons paths like these I 

Spring weaves already in the birchen trees; 

E'en the late pine-grove feels her quickening powers; 

Should she not work within these limbs of ours? 

In other words, Faust not only desired to drink in the beauties of 
the Brocken, but he could see no reason why they should not use their 
own good German legs. Readers of the immortal tragedy know what 
they found, and there are few of a fanciful, wonder-loving disposition who 
have not met the gnomes of the Brothers Grimm, which little misshap- 
pen workmen originated to so great an extent in the folk lore of the 
natives of the Hartz. Even these delving philologists, one of them, at 
least, among the greatest of his age, could not exclude from their literary 
life the quaint conceits and honest beliefs of the common people. 

The Brocken is ascended from the pretty mountain village of Ilsen- 



THE BROCKEN AND GOETHE. 



197 



berg, with the black pipes of the foundries pouring forth smoke and 
flames in defiance of the trees which ckister around. The ch'mb is usu- 
ally made without even the staff with which Goethe was assisted and 
brings one through glades and pastures, forests of pine, over carpets of 
moss and fir cones and wild gardens of roses, forget-me-nots and purple 
heath, with moss and creepers covering the rocks which overhang the 
pathway. Black charcoal burners, both men and women, are seen 
working near masses of felled trees, and further along, it may be, there 




will be found a miniature forest of fir trees, a few inches in height, which 
in years to come will furnish their grandchildren with work. The tiny 
trees are surrounded with little fences, and as they grow will be placed 
further apart. 

Much of the course of the Brocken is determined by the windings 
of the Use, but as we approach the Blocksberg, a spot haunted by witches 
and spectres from time immemorial, the path leaves the stream and the 



19^ THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

scenery becomes wilder and grander. Great blocks of granite and mossy 
boulders shut out the keen air, which comes to us with a touch of relief 
when we reach a more exposed point. Of course Hans Christian Ander- 
sen has had his story about the Brocken, especially about the Blocks- 
berg, which enormous rock looks with such a secure air over the sur- 
rounding country. He says that the beautiful maiden Use fled to it with 
her bridegroom when the Deluge carried the waters of the northern seas 
to the very base of the Brocken. At the summit of this famous rock is 
an inn, and in the hostelry is a visitor's book which contains verses and 
sketches by not a few noted men and by thousands of would-be wits. 
The genial Danish poet and story-teller left his mark in it himself and 
did not disdain to carve his name on the pine trees of the mountain. 
He also drank in, with quiet enjoyment, as thousands have done before 
and since, stories about those immense granite blocks, the Witches' Altar 
and the Devil's Pulpit. In a few simple words Andersen describes the 
summit of the Brocken : " It gives me an idea of a northern tumulus 
on a grand scale. Here stone lies piled on stone and a strange silence 
rests over the whole. Not a bird twitters in the low pines ; roundabout 
are white grave flowers growing in the high moss, and stones lie in 
masses on the sides of the mountain top. We were now on the top, but 
everything was in a mist ; it began to blow, and the Avind drove the 
clouds onward over the mountain top as if they were fiocks of sheep." 

In a clear day, when the clouds have condescended to float among 
the lower forests of pine like a lot of white clothes thrown down there 
to dry, the towns of Brunswick and Hanover appear as dots on the dis- 
tant plains ; but pine hills and mountains hide most of the watering 
places and mining villages of the Hartz, and a descent must therefore 
be made to see what they are like. 

THE HARTZ TOWNS. 

The Hartz, in fact, is being recognized as a delightful collection 
of charming associations and invigorating scenes. There are Goslar, 
and Clausthal, and Harzburg, making' with the Brocken almost a paral- 
lelogram, but all different. In Goslar once lived German emperors and 
sat the German Diet. It was a commercial city with its guilds, and 
massive warehouses and breweries, and later a famous mining center. 
One of the imperial palaces, erected by Henry III., in the eleventh cent- 
ury, is partly in ruins and partly used as a granary and store-house. 
The streets are roughly paved, but the old houses bear upon their front- 
ages and gables, their doors and heavy timbers, carvings of vines and 



THE HARTZ TOWNS. 



199 



flowers, mermaids and dragons, which stand out clear and quaint while 
stone and brick are crumbling. Neither must the building be large in 
order to be artistically embellished. The gables of a small dwelling house 
are as likely to be scrolled and fringed with elaborate designs as the front 
of an imposing old town hall, or an ancient royal palace transformed 
into a hotel. 

In the suburbs of the town are public gardens where patients take 

exercise, breathe ^ _ 

good air, and, last of .,_^^=--= -— ^ 

all, drink some kind _^r~ ^^^^ 

of wonderful water. —^^ ' S- 

Near it is one of those -=12 

old mines whose 
chambers reach 
grandly out and 
down, and which, 
when they were 
worked at their best, 
made Goslar great 
and famous. Within 
a few miles are ex- 
tensive fields of slate. 
Burly German offi- 
cers, dreamy meta- 
physicians and poets, 
ponderous mer- 
chants, lank students 
with knapsack and 
song, and ailing no- 
blemen and ladies, 
brush against grimy 
miners, iron-workers, 
and charcoal men and 
women coming from 
the mountains, or 
young girls in old german gateway. 

clumsy wooden shoes, laden with huge paniers of fire wood. Here, as 
at Harzburg and other villages in the vicinity, the artist has lingered long 
enough to notice the similarity in the outline of peasants, houses, 
children, pigs and dogs to those old-fashioned toys which have failed to 
charm few of us — those villages in wood and paint which come so nicely 




200 THE world's FAIR. 

packed and stand so squarely on the ground when we put them together. 
Even the fir trees of the Brocken are larger types of the green wooden 
trees of our childhood. They were, in fact, carved by the German 
children of the Harz mountains for other children, the world over, and 
they find their models at home, as evidently do other artists for more 
skillful work. We should call the manufacturers of these toy villages, 
the artists who turned the country into stiff wood and bright paint, 
among the most wonderful of the fairies — they have brought such floods 
of joy to the little ones from such dry m^aterial. The little forest which 
we saw fenced around as we ascended the Brocken is not much larger than 
our toy trees, but it is royal property, like the mines, and will not change 
its general form ; and when our children who are now playing with the 
toys in other lands travel as men and women to the valleys and villages 
and mountains of the Hartz they will understand the felicitous expression 
which has been applied to this region, "the toy country of Northern 
Germany." 

Though the mountains of the Hartz have fertile valleys, with 
clinging herds of fat cattle, their fairies, spirits, gnomes and mines are 
what have made them famous. Rich deposits of iron, copper, silver, 
zinc and lead have been worked for over nine hundred years, but most 
of the mines date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The 
veins of ore spread over a great area and penetrate to an unknown 
depth, for one of the mines, at least, has been' worked into the earth 
for half a mile and is still productive. To reach the silver ore, on 
account of the extreme hardness of the stone, fires are built against the 
face of the vein, so as to act upon the arsenic and sulphur, and decom- 
pose the rock. 

The mines of the Hartz region, which are provincial property, 
employ between 30,000 and 35,000 persons. The mining towns are given 
over entirely to this industry, and no business is conducted in them but 
that connected with mining and metallurgy. One of them, where the 
council meets which has general charge of the mines, has a mint and a 
school of mines. 

The representative mining town of the Hartz is Clausthal, contain- 
ing the Government School of Mines and the Museum. A visit to the 
latter, with its collections of minerals, models of machinery, and its tiny 
shafts and galleries, illustrates the geological formation of the land and 
every process required to get the ore from the ground and smelt it. 
Everything- is run by water power and every rill of the region is put to 
use. 

To master the entire system the students who attend the school are 



THE HARTZ TOWNS. 20I 

obliged to work with the miners, learning the use of their tools by actual 
practice. The descent is down steep ladders for several hundred feet, 
side galleries leading out at intervals, from the small shaft. Lanterns 
flash, sparks of light fall from specks of silver ore and the sound of ham- 
mer and pick is mingled with " Gliick auf," or " Good luck to you." The 
wish may come from a woman ; for there are women miners in this region, 
as well as charcoal women and woods-women. In one of the rest- 
ing places, or caverns, of the galleries there is (or was not long ago) 
a chamber about ten feet long, hewn out of the rock, carefully 
proportioned and in the center of which is a chair or throne made 
out of rough silver ore, in memory of an English duke who once 
visited there. 

But such a tour as this, underground, gives one very little general 
idea of the workings of the mine. One flash of the lantern reveals in an 
opening several half-naked men, some of them in pools of water, work- 
ing in the most cramped of positions ; another lights up the gloom of 
a. second shaft as far as the rays will penetrate and there seems to be an 
infinity of space beyond. Echoes and shadows are dancing around in 
the most weird confusion. There is a mental conflict between the desire 
to appear unconcerned, the wish to be wholly interested and the instinct 
to feel oppressed as one creeps along through slippery passage ways; 
and peace does not succeed this war of emotions when, in order to 
breathe the upper air, he is obliged to take his stand upon a small piece 
of wood attached to an enormous beam, and grasping an iron ring above 
him, be drawn into a narrow slit of earth, which he is assured leads to 
the regions above. 

Descending from the Brocken, and going toward the east, a mac- 
adamized road, with the not unusual accompaniments of fine carriages, 
houses and grounds, points the v/ay to Wernigerode, the resort of many 
a wealthy merchant and nobleman and the summer residence of not a 
few who go there to enjoy the mountains and the old town which is fast 
disappearing in the new. Beyond this aristocratic place are the smoky 
valleys of a mining territory and the great caves of Rubeland. One of 
these magnificent chambers is entered through an opening in the rock, 
high above the roofs of the town, and descending by staircases and 
ladders an excursion of miles may be taken underground, the chief 
attraction being the stalactite formations whose curious shapes can be 
tortured into the resemblance of everything under the sun. From the 
caves of Rubeland to a promontory of the mountains is not far, but 
from this point the telescope brings Berlin itself into the range of vision 
and indeed much of Northern Germany. 



202 THE WORLD S FAIR, 

MANUFACTURE OF GERMAN BEER. 

Beer is a fermented but not a distilled liquid. It is among the most 
ancient of drinks, and has been made from beans, peas, rice, wheat and 
barley. The Egyptians were manufacturing a wine from barley in the 
fifth century b. c, and that seems to have been the grain generally em- 
ployed by the Celts, Germans and Britons in the manufacture of their 
beer, which is virtually the same thing. In ale the yeast of the liquid is 
sent to the surface; in beer it falls to the bottom. Ale is the English 
drink ; beer is the German drink — all of which, and much more, the 
reader probably knows. But so much of a general nature is due an 
article which is of such wide-spread consumption and whose froth, in Ger- 
many, is almost as common as air. 

Like everything else which she undertakes to do, Germany has 
made a thorough study of beer-making. Whatever may be said^ of its 
consumption the skill shown in its manufacture is something to be ad- 
mired. Bavaria leads in the industry. It is a state which is founded 
upon beer, for two-thirds of its revenue is derived from that source. 
The true lager beer originated in that kingdom, and, in some respects. 
is still a monopoly. Lager beer is literally " store beer," and in Bavaria 
it acquires the right to that title by being allowed to slowly ferment in 
cool cellars. The liquor which is generally sold in this country is 
"draught beer," and contains less alcohol than the Bavarian varieties, 
and most of those made in Germany. 

Much of the popularity of the German beer is due to the fact of 
the excellence of the water employed. It must contain much salt and 
lime, so as to counteract the tendency toward decomposition of an)- 
animal or vegetable matter which it may hold. So that two things 
must be aimed at : the presence of these purifying and preserving 
agencies and the absence of anything liable to putrefy. The waters 
employed in the most extensive breweries contain at least sixty grains 
of earthy salts dissolved in each gallon. 

BAVARIA AND WURTEMBERG. 

As Bavaria perhaps leads the world in the manufacture and con- 
sumption of beer (per capita), so does she stand in the front rank of 
states in the province of education. The universit)^ of Munich stands 
third in importance, the polytechnic school leads them all in point of 
size and the Bavarian newspapers are able and independent. She has 
one of the most extensive picture galleries in Europe. 

In a certain sense, Bavaria stands alone among the German states. 



COLOGiNE. 203 

Catholicism has always been the dominant religion, and until 18 12 
Bavaria was frequently an ally of France against both Prussia and Aus- 
tria. She stood between Austria and Prussia as Belgium stood between 
Germany and France. But when French rule became distasteful, she 
joined the Germanic leagues, and during the Franco-Prussian war, to 
the surprise of the Emperor of France, she supported the King of Prus- 
sia and entered actively into the campaign. Even now, Bavaria is a 
kingdom within an empire. 

West of Bavaria is Wurtemberg, one of the leading states of 
Southern Germany and its capital, Stuttgart, has a considerable book 
trade, numerous paper mills, type foundries, etc. Its old palaces, its 
town hall built in the fifteenth century, its schools and museums, its 
manufactories of wool, cotton and scientific instruments mark it as 
another of those old German cities, flourishing materially and intellect- 
ually. A large public garden, one of the finest in the empire, and the 
King's summer palace and gardens make it a royal place for pleasure 
seekers. 

COLOGNE. 

While pursuing this subject of manufactures in rather a desultory 
fashion, mixing toy-making and mining with fairies and romance, and 
beer with education, we must rest a moment at Cologne, which is sepa- 
rated from Bavaria by only a few little provinces. Now we imagine 
that an uneasiness is working in the reader's mind, born of the fear that 
the thread-bare tale will be expanded to cover the intricacies of the 
manufacture of cologne and the glories of the gigantic Gothic cathedral. 
But it should be of more interest to learn that Cologne was once a Ro- 
man camp and afterwards a town where was born Agrippina, the daugh- 
ter of Germanicus and the mother of Nero. Upon the present site of 
Cologne she induced her husband, Claudius, to found a colony, during 
the first century of the Christian era. " The town then received the 
name of Colonia Agrippina, which it still retains in part. The founda- 
tions of the Roman walls remain and may be traced through the heart 
of the city. Some suppose that traces of the Roman descent of its in- 
habitants may be found in their features and complexion. Down to the 
time of the French revolution the leading citizens were styled patricians 
and the two burgomasters wore the consular toga and were attended by 
lictors." When the city fell into the hands of the French, during the 
revolution, it was found that one-fourth of its people were beggars, 
although Cologne had once been an important commercial link between 
the north and the south of Europe and the far East. This evil was par- 




COLOGNE CATHEDKAI. 



FAMILY LIFE. 2O5 

tially corrected before the city was restored to Prussia, and since it has 
been voted a member of the railroad world some of its former prosperity 
has returned ; but the great number of churches which survive the French 
occupancy and the Roman Catholic faith which is breathed from the very 
air, carnival celebrations and all, still uphold its claim to the title of the 
Northern Rome. 

FAMILY LIFE. 

The German who has served his time in the army brings a military 
spirit to bear upon his private affairs. It is with him either order or 
obey. Army life also throws the uncultured man in contact with edu- 
cated superiors, who make their calling a stepping stone to political and 
civil honors. But whether in army, private or civil life the same dis- 
cipline is maintained, plentifully enlivened with seasons of recreation. 

Heretofore the German has been viewed as a man of the world — 
as the soldier, student, farmer, manufacturer, traveler and the miner. 
His life at home is the simplicity of his character spread out in detail. 
His greatest horror is that he shall do something which is artificial and 
the result is that he is often artificially brusque and rude. He is prone 
to eat with a knife when a fork is at hand and would serve his purpose 
better. He talks loudly and uses violent expressions, not always 
because that is his individual tendency but because he is a German, with 
the national character to uphold. For the same reason he lets his wife 
drudge at home when he could afford to make life easy for her ; it would 
not become the German to make any lot an easy one. His is a world of 
discipline and why should not hers be ? 

Though her social station may be high the woman, in order to be a 
model German wife, must be an expert at wrangling with the butcher 
and the grocer, a frequenter of the kitchen, and a wielder of flat irons. 
The result is that she, too, is often disagreeably plain and simple. Her 
duties call for loose wrappers, not over-clean, and except she dresses for 
a promenade or a ball she thinks it affectation to strive to please by dress- 
ing in a becoming manner at home. As she grows older she becomes 
even more defiant. It would be unbecoming the simple German wife of 
a German husband to hide the bald patches of her scalp or her red, 
gaunt throat. The German woman fades at a comparatively early age ; 
she has enjoyed none of those bold exercises of sword, parallel bar, 
walking, army drill and open air life which have given her husband so 
splendid a physique. In this regard she is far behind the English and 
American woman. 

Even to the table, where most nationalities have agreed to appear 



2 06 THE world's FAIR. 

better than they are away from it, the husband, wife and children bring 
all their boisterous ways and loud talk. In whatever costume the lady 
of the house appears, the man, especially if it be an after-breakfast meal, 
will have dressed himself in uniform. But it is not at all certain that 
the family will eat together ; that will depend greatly upon the occupa- 
tion of the man and the school hours of the children. The dinner some- 
times lasts three or four hours. Notwithstanding the family provisions 
are kept strictly under lock and key by the mistress who acts under the 
exacting eye of her general-in-chief, there is always a bountiful supply of 
hearty food. Bread, butter, eggs, milk, coffee, vegetables, soups, meats, 
dumplings, beer and wine, all march to their graves to the tune of 
loud voices and laughter. The servants are noisy and are apt to be 
too familiar, or abject under the treatment of the master of the house; 
but in their dress, their language and their ways they conform to the 
national standard of studied simplicity or inherited brusqueness. To do 
anything un-Germanlike would be to have the whole town laughing at 
you, as a native nurse once told a foreigner who desired to have her 
child treated according to her own notions. 

Coffee is served at four o'clock and supper between seven and nine. 
The latter is the pleasantest meal of the day, being usually a re-union. 
It is a lunch of bread and butter, meats, cheese, sardines, hard-boiled 
eggs, with tea, beer or wine — sometimes with all of them. " All the 
housewives as autumn wanes, lay in a goodly store of vegetables to last 
through the winter months, when nothing of the kind is to be pro- 
cured for love or money. Potatoes are banked up in the cellars ; cab- 
bages, carrots, turnips and onions are buried in layers of mold, whence 
your cook will extract them, uninjured by damp or frost, for the daily 
meal. Vegetables of the finer sort, such as French beans, peas, etc., 
are, as they come into season, preserved for winter use in tins, which are 
hermetically sealed by a man who comes to solder them down." All 
this hearty food, spiced and greased and vinegared, and washed down 
with Rhine-wine and Bavarian beer, nourishes the \-igorous body and 
brain of the German fighter, but it plays havoc with the woman, who 
never gets the start in health which her brother does in his younger 
years. So much is his food a part of the German that the pertinent 
question to those who return from a ball, dinner or supper is not as to 
what was worn, but what was eaten. The common form of inquiry is, 
" What did you get ?" — a blunt, German question. 

Aside from the clubs, theatres and other amusements common to 
other people, the true German has his own enjoyable garden. He erects 
a summer house in his yard, on some prominent spot, and Sunday after- 



FAMILY LIFE. 20/ 

noon he is sure to be found there, with his spouse and daugliters, contem- 
platively smoking while his wife knits, or presides over the coffee table. 
At times the prosperous citizen will have established his summer house 
in the suburbs of the city. As the family food is usually cooked in town 
and has to be brought out in baskets, along hot dusty highways, when 
applying for a position the common query of the maid of-all-work is, 
" Have you a garden?" If you have, the bargain is off. 

In these garden scenes, during the family rambles and Sunday 
excursions, home life is seen in its most agreeable forms of simplicity. 
The big German is not abashed at being discovered hand in hand with 
his matronly wife. Though they speak harshly to their little ones, or 
rap them smartly on their backs (as they may consider dutiful), they have 
the most charming words of endearment, in the uttering of which there 
is no hypocrisy. "My little heart," "my beautiful one," "my pretty 
one," " my little love," " little mother," " sweetheart " and a score of other 
caressing terms are bandied about from parents to children, from lover 
to lover, in such a graceful, unaffected fashion as to make one forget the 
gutterals and hissings of the language. 

Wherever an elderly German woman or a couple is, there also, or 
within hailing distance, will generally be a youth and maiden, enjoying 
their betrothal period, as other lovers do when outside eyes are not upon 
them. They have become so used to affectionate demonstrations, with- 
out privacy, that this characteristic will follow them through life. On a 
Rhine steamer, on the cars, on the street, love-making and love-talking 
go on with a coolness which is startling to many. Before the mar- 
riage is arranged, the "caution " must be decided upon, which is a sum 
of money which the man must deposit as a guaranty that his wife shall 
live in a becoming style in case of his death. If foresight is shown 
for the possible widow, the probable maiden lady of high standing is 
also provided for. 

The Protestant nobles of Germany have instituted retreats for 
maidens of their standing who are thought beyond the pale of matri- 
mony. Lands have been purchased and houses built, fisheries, forests 
and farms contributing to support the institution. Each noble who has 
contributed his share toward the original investment is entitled to pre- 
sent his maiden as a member of the retreat. The inmates are uniformed 
in black silk gowns, with the sign of their order across the breast, and 
can obtain leave of absence from the superior to enter society for three 
or six months annually. They have a standing in the community, and 
marriage is not quite out of the question when they can appear stamped 
with the badge of nobility. These retreats, or " Stifte," as they are 



208 THE world's FAIR. 

called in German, often become very wealthy and prove fortunate finan- 
cial investments. It is said that the ladies of these retreats evince a 
pride of blood which is not shown in so marked a degree in many cir- 
cles of German society. 

But despite the ceremonials of a noble and courtly circle, now and 
then, the German character, whether dissected within the walls of the 
private house or the palace at Berlin, is one of simplicity — sometimes, 
as we have ventured to say, offensively rough. The men of standing 
in Germany, from the Emperor doiwn, despite their political views, have 
never seemed far away from the people because of this very trait. Her 
great scholars, poets and scientists, even her statesmen of iron purpose, 
although they may be learned, mystical, analytical and cruel, still exhibit 
to the world beneath the outer crust a certain rugged childlikeness, 
which is a refined form of that earnestness which often deteriorates into 
rudeness. 

BERLIN. 

The German life, in all its diversity and intellectual muscularity, is 
portrayed in Berlin, a massive, square city, set down on a sandy plain 
and cut in two by a sluggish river, and further divided by broad streets 
which stretched regularly through the city, as if made for the majestic 
tramp of the imperial army. Unter den Linden, a splendid street with a 
double avenue of linden trees, is where the majority of visitors are taken 
to see the most of the empire's capital. Nearly opposite the great 
university is the royal palace, and directly opposite a magnificent bronze 
statue of Frederick the Great. The names of Fichte, Hegel and Schel- 
ling cling to the university, their fame going along more modestly than 
that of Frederick upon his great horse. On each side of the royal 
palace are the fine public squares called Lustgarten and Schlossplatz. 

Opposite the Lustgarten is one of the hundreds of institutes in 
which the German people take a just pride ; it is the old museum, built 
upon a former bed of the river, the entrance being through a number of 
imposing porticoes, ornamented with statues and bronze figures. Its col- 
lections of vases and coins and its sculpture and picture galleries are 
celebrated over Europe. In the rear of the old museum is the new one 
containing antiquities of the northern nations and of Egypt, an entire 
hall decorated with paintings by pupils of Kaulbach, casts of famous 
statues and art collections of all descriptions. The Egyptian depart- 
ment is not only very complete but is unique in its arrangement, it being 
exhibited in a court which is modeled after an Egyptian temple. In the 
Linden is also the national gallery of paintings and other famous col- 




A GERMAN FRAULELX. 

(READY FOR THE FAIR.) 



2IO THE world's FAIR. 

lections. The Royal Theatre, the Italian Opera House, the stately 
parks, and elegant pleasure-gardens both within the city and its suburbs,, 
show the pleasure-loving side of the people. In one of the most charm- 
ing of the suburban parks, is a monument to the memory of Humboldt, 
who was a native of the city. The city is adorned, from one extremity 
to the other, with masterpieces of architecture and art by the famous 
Schinkel. whose genius took a remarkably wide range ; for he not only 
excelled as a historical painter and sculptor, his works being collected in 
a special museum, but he was the architect of some of the finest public 
works of Berlin. 

The capital is, preeminently, the imperial city of Germany, not only 
in the narrow but the Lroad sense of the word. Kings, artists, scholars 




MUSEUM AT BERLIN. 



and poets appear in their marble pallor in the parks, on public buildings 
and in palaces and private houses. There are royal libraries, royal pal- 
aces, royal theatres and streets named after the kings. On King's street 
is the Commercial Exchange of Berlin, one of the world's great centers 
of trade. It is near the postoffice, and is a square, massive building, 
presenting a grand front of pillars and groups of statuary. The churches 
of Berlin are many, but perhaps the most noteworthy is the Roman 
Catholic Hedwigskirche, situated in the rear of the Italian Opera House, 
and built in imitation of the Roman Pantheon. 

Berlin is a worthy subject for a book, but it should be added, as a 
tribute to its enterprise and the national unity of the empire, that since 
it became the capital of United Germany no city in Europe has taken 



SOME FAMOUS GERMAN CITIES. 2 I I 

greater strides in every direction, and no people have evinced greater 
pride in their governmental center than have the Germans for the best 
representative of their greatness. 

SOME FAMOUS GERMAN CITIES. 

Frankfort-on-the-Main, formerly the capital of Germany, is rich in 
historic associations, as well as the center of a portion of the Rothschild 
activities. The founder of the great banking house and his children 
after him were born in Jews street, most of the old buildings of which 
have been pulled down. Goethe square contains a statue of Frankfort's 
illustrious citizen and Germany's great man. Frankfort once led the 
German cities in the publishing business, and possesses among its artis- 
tic attractions a monument in honor of the art of printing. Schiller has 
been commemorated in marble, several times, in the squares and public 
gardens, the most noteworthy representation being the superb bust in 
Berthmann's pleasure grounds. The council house where the German 
emperors were elected, the Church of St. Bartholomew where they were 
crowned for 150 years, and that of Katharine, where the first Lutheran 
sermon was preached more than three centuries and a half ago, are places 
of interest, while the promenades and watering places around the city 
delight as well as interest. The belt of promenades and parks connect the 
old gates of the city and furnish a picturesque view of the river and distant 
mountains. They alone would make Frankfort a delightful pleasure 
resort. The picture galleries, museums and libraries, and its financial 
importance as being the scene of operations of many of the wealthiest 
Jewish houses in Europe, bring to it a great variety of nationalities. 
Business, pleasure, scholarship and art meet together most harmoniously 
in Frankfort ; of all American cities it most resembles Boston. 

Dresden, the capital of Saxony, has received many baptisms of fire, 
but is still a beautiful city. It is celebrated as one of the greatest art 
centers in Europe. The Academy of Fine Arts is near the bank of the 
Elbe River. The Japanese palace was built as a summer residence by 
one of the kings, but is now used as a museum. It contains a gallery 
of paintings, in which all the European schools are represented by their 
greatest masters ; collections of antique sculpture, coins and pottery, a 
museum of natural history and the public library, especially com- 
plete in historical works. In the royal palace is a collection of rare and 
costly carvings, jewels and relics, gathered by the princes of Saxony. 
Michael Angelo's magic art is seen in some wonderful specimens of carv- 
ings. Dresden has few monuments, and perhaps its most noteworthy 
architectural work is the great bridge across the Elbe. 



212 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

AUSTRIA'S WORLD-FAIR CITY. 

Much of Vienna's fame as a modern city rests upon work accom- 
plished during the past century. The unsightly walls which surrounded 
the old city have been torn down and thirty-six suburbs admitted into the 
corporate territory. Within ancient Vienna, however, are the grandest 
squares and edifices, and the limits of the old city are retained by a belt 
of boulevards nearly three miles in length. The present municipal 
limits are also indicated by another belt, which is sixteen miles in length 
and follows the line of low ramparts erected during the beginning of the 
eighteenth century. The Ringstrasse, or that street which marks the 
bounds of the old city, is lined with palatial residences, as are also the 
streets which intersect it. In this locality are the opera house, archducal 
palaces, academies, museums, the imperial theatre, the military head- 
quarters and other edifices and interesting localities, which, to mention, 
would be tiresome and to describe impossible. The center of this area 
is St. Stephen's Square, which is also the geographical center of Vienna. 
Many of the leading streets converge here, and the grand St. Stephen's 
cathedral and the Episcopal palace are worthy ecclesiastical monuments 
to this stronghold of Catholicism. In the church are numerous monu- 
ments and underneath it vast catacombs. There are numerous squares, 
all worthy of notice, but perhaps the Franzensplatz is most visited by 
foreigners since it is formed by the four wings of the imperial palace. The 
outer palace square is the largest in Vienna, containing statues of Arch- 
duke Charles and Prince Eugene ; the inner square, the Franzensplatz, con- 
tains the monument to Francis I. Within the palace are not only splendid 
treasures, among other valuable curiosities the regalia worn by the Ger- 
man emperors when they were crowned, but cabinets of antiquities and 
of zoology and botany. Under royal patronage are also fine art galler- 
ies, a truly imperial library, and the world-famed University of Vienna. 

Vienna's reputation as a city of magnificence and of grand propor- 
tions, a diversified pleasure resort for all nationalities and tastes, is 
enhanced by her theatres, gardens and out-of-door resorts. An island 
in the Danube, several miles in length, called the Prater, is laid out in 
parks, avenues and promenades, and may be called the fashionable 
resort. This was the scene of the Exhibition of 1873. Besides the thea- 
tres, some of them unrivaled in Germany, and the gardens adorned with 
works of art and frequented by a greater diversity of nationalities than 
any other localities in Europe, there are most picturesque surroundings 
to be enjoyed. The imperial gardens, menagerie and summer resi- 
dence are a few miles from the city. 



THE DUTCH. 

THEIR DIKES ASSAULTED. 

Ef^TT^HE world knows that Holland was snatched from the sea and 
rojjlu^ that the Dutch should have the credit of almost creating the 
^glJ^g soil upon which so much of their prosperity rests ; that gran- 
^^^^^ ite, wooden and sand dikes, great and little canals, windmills 
^^^p^ and hydraulic machines, in the hands of a plodding, brave, sen- 
I^MI sible people, have, in some way, accomplished the task of 
y|0| planting a land far below the level of the sea and making it 
W teem with riches ; and that with all their stupendous labors, 
W the natives must never rest day or night in fancied security. 
I The rivers and the sea are still persistently fighting for the 

mastery — the sea to tear away the coast and what land the rivers make, 
and the rivers to burst their banks and cover the fertile fields, the vil- 
lages and cities which the Dutch have created. Even within historic 
ages the course and level of the Rhine have changed ; it is said, in fact, 
that there is a general rise of all the river levels, which the dike-builders 
are obliged doggedly to follow. The rivers are no longer able to bear 
German soil against the currents of the ocean, but rather drop it, in 
apparent exhaustion, at the entrance to the sea, making it difificult for a 
small vessel to pass out where great fleets were once crowded. The 
result has been that the danger from inundations of the rivers is 
increased; they can not flow freely to the sea, and with the advent of a 
severe winter they are firmly locked near the ocean. When the spring 
thaw sets in, from the south comes a moving body of water and tremen- 
dous ice cakes, which crash against this solid wall. On from behind 
comes pressing a mighty procession of assaulting forces ; huge cakes 
and pinnacles of ice grind each other in their rage, the waters from 
behind rushing and roaring over them until such a barrier is formed that 
the irresistible forces of nature strain and tear outward at the mighty 
dikes. The waters heave at the foundations, gigantic battering rams 
and titanic spears assault the banks, there is a moment of indecisive 
trembling, a roar which the ravenous sea, in its uncontrollable fury, 

213 



214 THE world's FAIR. 

might have given, and the country is under the waves ; men, women and 
children are flying to the hills and church steeples, the wild bells of 
alarm are pealing, grain fields and houses are beneath the foaming water 
and seething ice, cattle, sheep and human beings are struggling and 
groaning together ; and when the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt 
have once again had their way, the patient Hollanders collect their dead 
and repair the wrecks of fortune. 

THE ZUYDER ZEE COUNTRY. 

Latin authors make mention of several inland lakes in Holland, the 
largest of which was formed by the overflow of the Rhine. An isthmus 
separated it from the sea. The ocean burst this barrier in the thirteenth 
century, and advancing step by step formed Zuyder Zee, which opens 
such a great gap in Northern Holland. In the body of the sea are three 
islands and upon them are the descendants of the primitive Batavians 
and Frisians, members of that same stubborn, sturdy, tireless, stout, 
broad-shouldered family which made Germany and England possible. 
Their features, characters and even customs remind one of the ancient 
Germanic tribes and above all of the Saxons. On the western coasts of 
Zuyder Zee are now dull villages which, in the times when the submerged 
district and Friesland, on the other shore, were portions of a fertile coun- 
try dotted with hamlets and waving with fields of wheat, rye and barley, 
were flourishing centers of trade. The destruction of villages and fertile 
lands, with the consequent decline of the towns which escaped the devas- 
tation was the cause of the rise of Amsterdam. This city is farther in- 
land, yet nearer the North Sea and sheltered from the storms by lying 
around an abrupt peninsula of North Holland upon the southern shore 
of Zuyder Zee. 

It is in one of these towns, on the edge of this submerged ancient 
Holland, that William Schouten was born who first rounded America's 
cape. The port is called Hoorn, and the South American cape should 
therefore be Cape Hoorn. The old town is the center of the dairy pro- 
ducts of Holland. Further south are towns and cities which have no 
prosperity, having had their life drained by Amsterdam. Opposite lie 
some of those islands upon which dwell such primitive people. Their 
houses are built upon simple mounds of earth, as in ancient days, and 
connected by small piles of earth. From the roof of one of the churches 
are hung two models of the first fishing boats employed by the islanders. 
Few houses have chimneys, " but before the principal window there is a 
large flat stone surrounded by a row of bricks. A piece of iron is fast- 



FURTHER RAVAGES OF THE SEA. 



215 



ened at the back of this stone, against which the fire is kindled. An 
opening in the roof allows exit to the smoke, which, before emerging, 
spreads through the loft where the nets are dried. The house belongs 
to the wife ; but the fly-boat, the external house, belongs to the husband. 
He displays the same coquetry and zeal in adorning this floating abode 
as his wife does in cleaning the cottage ; and on Sundays and holidays 
the fishing boats collected in port seem rather a squadron of yachts 
arranged for the pleasures of the eye than a fleet of toil and utility." 

FURTHER RAVAGES OF THE SEA. 



North of Zuyder Zee, and all along the shores of the North Sea 
from the mouth of the Scheldt to that of the Ems, the most startling 




IN A DUTCH PORT. 



changes have been traced in the configuration of the country, not since 
ancient times only, but since the middle ages. Hundreds of villages 
have disappeared as so many Pompeiis ; the sea has burst in and out, 
making islands of peninsulas, making gulfs of lowlands and seaports of 
inland towns. From the western shores of Zuyder Zee to the German 
coast is a chain of islands undoubtedly marking the former bounds, 



2l6 THE world's FAIR. 

of Holland, and, since the first century a. d., seven of the twenty-three 
islands which Pliny noticed have been beaten into the ocean. As late 
as the thirteenth century a new island was formed from a detached por- 
tion of North Holland, and in the fifteenth, thirty-five out of seventy- 
two villages which stood on a group of islets in the broad mouth of the 
Meuse, were buried out of sight by the rising of the ocean tide and the 
bursting of a sluice. "Not a trace of them can be discovered save an 
old, gloomy, solitary tower called the House of Merwed. At a later 
date, in order to fix the spots where the fishermen might be permitted 
to cast their nets, the course of the old Maas, which traversed the coun- 
try before the submersion, was conjecturally reconstructed. The spot 
where the villages were destroyed still bears the name of ' Biesbosch,' 
or the wood of reeds." 

The Dollart is a bay which indents both the coasts of Holland and 
of Germany. In the thirteenth century it was the triple mouth of the 
River Ems, a promontory stretching northeast toward the German coast. 
Upon this tongue of land were half a hundred villages. The fierce 
North Sea deluged the land and swallowed up thirty-three of them, 
blotting out the mouths of the river and forming the gulf " Furious," 
or Dollart. 

Within the last century, in fact, both sea and river have spread 
over nearly every fertile district of Holland; and still the Dutch love 
their country. Death and disaster, their unceasing struggle with nature, 
have bound them to it as closely as the Swiss is wedded to his Alps. 

THE DIKES, AND HOW THEY LOOK. 

Having drawn the character of the foe, what are the human weapons, 
defensive and offensive, employed against it ? It is said the Cimbri, 
before they started for Great Britain, built the first dikes, and that these 
were destroyed before the Frisians and Batavians came. The first dike 
which we hear of was constructed near Leyden, on the old Rhine. The 
Meuse was next attacked, and early in the Christian era the Romans 
even took a hand in digging a canal or two to connect the rivers, of all 
the barbarians the Batavians being their favorites. Whatever of nobility 
there was in these old times was overshadowed by the officers appointed 
by the land owners to watch the rivers and dikes. These officers were 
called the Counts of the Dikes, and in seasons of inundations and dis- 
tress their power was supreme. 

From their time to the present the whole architectural and mechani 
cal genius of the country has been concentrated upon h)'draulic works. 



THE DIKES, AND HOW THEY LOOK. 217 

First In order of time and simplicity come the dikes. In some cases 
they are merely earthworks. On the sea coast, in places, the ocean casts 
up ridges or hills of sand, which are sown with plants, chiefly rank grasses. 
These reeds or grasses while they are taking root have to be protected, 
sometimes for miles along the coast, by coverings of straw ; otherwise 
they would be lifted out of the soil by the strong sea winds. When the 
grasses have taken root, however, and escaped the inroads of the Dutch 
rabbit, which is as great an enemy to them as the wind, the shifting 
masses of sand are cemented and a natural dike is formed. These ridges 
are called sand dunes, and where they exist at all they line the coast in 
three parallel series, the outer one touching the sea and being of most 
recent formation. These partially natural protections, which on a Hol- 
land level look like mountains, are sometimes strengthened with brick, 
wood or stone work, while every point of the coast which is not guarded 
by the sand dunes is covered by a dike. The most massive of these 
works is the Great Dike, in the vicinity of the Helder, where the north- 
ern peninsula of North Holland is exposed to the full fury of sea and 
wind, and which would otherwise be soon cut off into the southernmost 
of the long chain of islands which stretches toward Germany; it is six 
miles in length, twenty or twenty-five feet wide, and strengthened by 
massive bulwarks of granite projecting far into the sea. Many of the 
dikes are smoothly paved on the top with small yellow bricks and form 
excellent carriage roads, and from an elevation of twenty-five or thirty 
feet one may obtain broad views of the country, with its handsome villas 
and farm houses, green fields, and numerous canals whose courses can be 
traced by long lines of willows and other trees which intersect each other 
like a tracery of veins. 

In place of the road a canal is sometimes dug along the dike. The 
sides of the embankment are often covered with willows, which are 
planted, and interwoven like wicker-work, so that from a distance it 
resembles an immense green ridge. Still outside of the dikes, in exposed 
places, walls of masonry are built or solid rows of piles driven into the 
river or ocean bed. Although every point of danger along sea and river 
seems to be guarded, engineers are constantly employed to make repairs 
and watchmen patrol the dikes by day and night, to give timely warning 
of a strain, a break or a rising of the tide. The people repair to the 
scene of danger with mats of straw and rushes, sail cloth and bags of sand, 
with which to stop the leak or build up the embankment in a temporary 
manner. Millions of dollars are still spent annually for strengthening old 
works, building new dikes and canals, and in reimbursing the army of offi- 
cers and employes connected with the stupendous system of fortifications. 



2l8 ■ THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

As in military tactics, it has been found by the ablest of the Dutch 
engineers that it is often best to yield a point to the powerful enemy for 
the sake of the general result ; so that sluice gates are constructed at the 
mouths of rivers, and when the sea is very tempestuous one or more of 
the gates are opened that the waves may partially spend their force 
before they assault the inner line of fortifications. 

The untiring vigilance of the people (notwithstanding which they 
have been so often circumvented by the tireless foe) may be better 
appreciated when it is remembered that during the howling tempests 
which sweep upon the coast of Holland from the northwest the tide of 
the Rhine rises eleven feet above Amsterdam, that of the Meuse nearly 
as much at Rotterdam, while the river Leek, some distance from the 
latter city, towers seventeen feet above. The Amsterdam level is the 
standard of the country. 

THE CANALS. 

But the system of dikes does not embrace the whole wonder — for 
despite the casualties which have already buried a country under the 
waves, the dikes, sluice gates, and pumping machines, the canals form a 
more stupendous monument to the patience and industry of man than 
all the pyramids of Egypt. A dense forest which formerly covered South 
Holland and extended over a portion of North Holland has disappeared 
in the piling of the dikes and in the foundations of Amsterdam. Hav- 
ing exhausted their own country of wood, the people dug out great beds 
of peat for fuel, which at once were converted into marshes and lakes. 
The Dutch saw with alarm that they were thus making thousands of acres 
of waste land — that land which had been bought at such a price — and 
they perseveringly set to work to drain the hollows. Then it was that 
those ponderous arms commenced to rise aslant against the sky and to 
christen Holland " the land of dikes and windmills." At first they were 
constructed so as merely to take the wind from the northwest, the 
prevailing quarter. " From this period date the regular diking of the 
low-lands, the formation of trenches to discharge and guide the water, 
the construction of sluice gates to establish the level between the reser- 
voirs ; in a word, a scientific system of desiccation. Through this dis- 
covery the internal state of the country was changed and agriculture 
could spring up. At the present day, mills of all shapes and dimensions 
stand in the middle of rich plains, whose superfluous waters they draw 
off ; their busy wings are in the distance blended together in a tranquil 
sky and give the landscape a singular character. Some of these mills 
are true edifices, which seek the wind at a considerable height ; others 



DRAWING OFF THE SEAS. 219 

smaller and built of wood and brick, are very prettily finished off This 
rustic coquetry ; these huge sails which flutter in the air like the wings 
of gigantic and fabulous birds ; this tic-tac blended with the rustling sound 
of the waters, spreads over the calm nature of Holland an undefinable 
charm and movement. Elsewhere, these monuments of a pastoral life 
are only employed in one way ; but here, on the contrary, they are hy- 
draulic machines, saw and flour grinding mills. Formerly efforts were 
limited to draining ground at no great depth ; but since science has 
progressed the wind is called upon to exhaust deep marshes." 

DRAWING OFF THE SEAS. 

The first extensive tract drained was in the eastern portion of North 
Holland, during the first part of the seventeenth century, by which some 
thirty lakes were converted into fertile gardens and grazing grounds, 
the former beds being intersected with pretty avenues bordered with 
trees and canals lined with green banks, while numerous hamlets sprung 
up as briskly as all vegetation. The pioneer in the work which has spread 
over Holland is said to have been a seafaring man who had seen the 
mighty fleets of Philip H., which had been scattered on every coast. 
He had witnessed the sinking of a gold-laden vessel, a mere piece of 
drift-wood from the great Armada, upon the coast of Ireland, and, after 
making several voyages to that locality, found the treasure, and with the 
proceeds of his rich discovery drained the Purmer. 

From the scene of his labors a magnificent canal, massively pro- 
tected, furnished with great sluice gates and all other appliances, is cut 
across the peninsula from Zuyder Zee to the North Sea and connects 
with the canal from Amsterdam, which traverses it from north to south. 

With the application of steam to these stupendous drainage enter- 
prises they became bolder in their nature. Haarlem Meer, a sea which 
in a century had been formed by the coming together of four lakes, 
which had drowned three villages and rose to the very gates of Amster- 
dam, this ravenous body of water was drawn into the sea, after several 
pumps were kept constantly at work for fifteen or sixteen years. The 
project had been proposed more than two centuries previous, when 
steam was not at hand to make it practicable, but the first gigantic 
engine which commenced to draw the life blood from Haarlem Meer, in 
1847, was named after the originator of the idea, Leegh Water. If 
this could be accomplished during the "sixties," it is quite likely that 
during the " nineties," from the various propositions to reclaim. Zuyder 
Zee, will be sifted the wisest ideas and that the audacious enterprise will 
be inaugurated. 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



THE SEA AS AN ALLY. 



In describing this contest of the Dutch with water and wind, how- 
ever, the friendly traits of these foes should not be entirely passed over. 
They have utilized the wind for drainage purposes, and against human 
enemies they summon the floods as their allies. During the invasions 
of the Spaniards and the French the flood gates of their rivers and 
canals were more effective than cannon, and fortresses and fierce assault- 

ing columns. 
How, even with- 
out the presence 
of William of Or- 
ange, Philip's grim 
warriors, under 
the bloody Duke 
who had never 
been defeated, 
were driven out 
of Leyden by the 
floods which were 
sent against them, 
and welcome relief 
rolled up to the 
gates of the city 
on the return bil- 
lows — these are 
matters of dra- 
matic history, pic- 
tured by the mas- 
ters. The old 
walls of Amster- 
dam are down, but 
she has her canals 
from the Rhine 
REMBRANDT VAN RYN. and Zuyder Zee, 

with their massive flood gates, and the great hollow of Haariem Meer, 
the country round about the city herself, could be flooded before a 
hostile army could ravage the territory. 

The connection between the famous defense of Leyden and the 
founding of the great university, is that when the Prince of Orange 
appeared to the distressed citizens, he gave them the choice of two 




SCENES ON THE CANALS, 2 21 

rewards for their heroism — the remittal of their heaviest taxes, or the 
estabhshment of such an institution — and with one voice they shouted 
"The University, the University!" So it was founded, — one of the 
greatest monuments to the cause of education in Europe. Its other 
glory is that, in one of the windmills which surround the clean, antique 
city, Rembrandt is said to have been born, and its greatest curiosity is a 
ruined tower, situated on a mound in the centre of the town, whose 
builder is said to have been Hengist, the Saxon. The tower has been con- 
verted into a sort of inn, and the grounds about it are used as a tea-garden. 

SCENES ON THE CANALS. 

But whether you go to the Hague, where the Queen and her palaces 
are, which contains prisons and squares where Dutch patriots were con- 
fined and executed, splendid collections of paintings by the Dutch 
masters; which is the birthplace of William HI. of England, and long 
the residence of the hardy stadtholders ; or to Utrecht, the scene of the 
formal establishment of the great political and religious league, and of 
memorable treaties in which vast territories in Europe and America 
were shuffled around by the Powers as a pack of cards ; or to the com- 
mercial centers, Amsterdam and Rotterdam — it matters not where you 
go, — the cities will be cut into districts by numerous canals, upon whose 
broad embankments are laid out wide and clean streets. Facing the 
streets, or (as they become in Rotterdam and Amsterdam) the quays, 
are lofty houses which overlook the bustle upon the water and the land. 
Their sites are cut into many islands, and to their great wharfs come ves- 
sels from all parts of the world, their masts protruding above the lofty 
dikes, but their bodies hidden behind the huge ramparts ; and away 
from river and sea the same movement is seen on the water. The 
sails of little boats glide apparently over the face of the country, or 
glisten through the green trees which line the banks of the canals and 
rivers. Holland has its railroads, but its canals still reign supreme. 
Large cities in America have their milk-trains. To the large cities of 
Holland come processions of boats, laden with oaken buckets of milk 
from the surrounding farms, attended frequently by pretty girls, with 
great straw hats turned up before and behind, and with very red cheeks. 
The water-boats of Holland are distinct from the milk-boats, the 
Amsterdam supply being brought from Utrecht, or pumped from the 
sand of the oce^n dunes, where the rain water collects. There are 
regular companies organized for the distribution of water, but many 
private individuals gain a livelihood by selling water, which they carry 
about the town in casks placed upon carts. 




A DUTCH ROMANCE. 



EVERY ONE SEDATE AND CLEAN. 2 23 

Upon the boats constructed for passenger travel the character of 
the typical Hollander will be revealed in as quaint a light as in Amster- 
dam. He makes himself at home as much in one place as the other. 
The little cabin, with its glazed windows and colored curtains, its looking- 
glass and mat, and, if it is winter, a foot-warmer for the ladies, with cush- 
ioned benches on either side and a small case or shelf against the wall 
holding a modest library, everything bright and neat ; this is an index of 
the Hollander. If his journey is long he has his own table, where he 
can write, and opens a regular business office, preparing necessary cor- 
respondence or even carrying on trade with some brother merchant who 
may chance to be going his way. The women sew or knit, the length 
of the journey being often reckoned in stockings. There is much 
smoking and tea-drinking, the girls sing soft choruses at night, which 
float more calmly over Holland than any other land and water on earth, 
and when it is time that all honest people were abed the cabin is divided 
into two parts — the saloon, and the sleeping room, which occupies the 
width of the cabin, composed of simple mattresses and counterpanes all 
smacking of fresh air and good, honest soap and water. 

So these thousands of boats, usually about thirty feet long, glide 
along the Dutch water ways, being drawn by horses upon which are 
mounted postilions. In front of each boat is a mast, which is lowered at 
the bridge, and to the top of which the long rope is fastened which 
■drags the craft along. The master of the boat is placid, polite and 
quiet, but the postilion lustily blows his buffalo horn, or shouts at the 
top of his lungs when he approaches a bridge or a boat. 

But should he urge his beast along every canal in Holland and drag 
the boat after him in which the writer is supposed to be, there would 
come before him one continuous chain of evidence that, despite their 
centuries of disasters, the Dutch are a uniformly prosperous people. Near 
the towns, which are so numerous that their limits can scarcely be traced, 
are built upon the banks of the canals Chinese pavilions, where the 
women take their needlework and knitting and the men their pipes, and 
from soft clouds of smoke or over their cups of tea and coffee calmly 
watch the flow of industry along the watery thoroughfares. 

EVERYONE SEDATE AND CLEAN. 

Sedateness and cleanliness seem to be the outward manifestations 
of the Dutch character. The present generation inherits these tenden- 
cies from the past. Such struggles with nature and man as the people 
have had for their country have engraved themselves upon the persons 
of children yet unborn ; with the Dutchman, life has been no laughing 



224 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



matter. But though sedate he is far from being sad or gloomy, as the 
roses, the hyacinths, the tuhps, the gay houses and the placid happiness 
of his women and children prove Even the maidens of the Netherlands 
are sedate. Whether in the country or the city it is not customary for 
them to look boldly at passers-by. They hide themselves behind vines 
and green frameworks, and if they wish to look upon the crowded street 
the objects below them are reflected in two mirrors, set at the proper 
angles, and placed outside the window, so that they may see without being 
seen. 

Why the Dutch are clean as well as sedate it may be impossible to 
explain on any philosophical or historic 
grounds. Perhaps the abundance of 
water and the crowded condition of 
their land may have had something to 
do with it. Existence in Holland would 
be impossible without cleanliness. As 
it is there are no healthier people in the 
world. In the large cities the hours 
before 9:30 a. m., daily, are devoted en- 
tirely to cleaning, this matter being reg- 
ulated according to law. This is all 
the more necessary, since, if the build- 
ings do not face canal embankments, 
the streets, especially in the old quar- 
ters, have been raised as high as the 
dikes to improve the drainage ; so that 
access to the structures is obtained by 
descending a flight of steps, and when 
mistresses and maids, having no yards 
in which to perform such duties, take 
possession of the streets to beat car- 
pets, shake mats, throw water upon 
the houses from little brass hand engines, wield window washers attached 
to long poles, and, in fact, to brush and wash and dry their dwellings 
inside and out, then the pedestrian who ventures upon a Dutch street 
before 9:30 is miserable indeed. Though the vigor with which the 
women conduct this siege against dirt transforms them for the time 
being into a species of maniacs, they still maintain their reputation for 
cleanliness, being generally dressed in pale lavender bodices, with a 
black petticoat below, a white apron in front and a snowy cap over the 
head. 




A NEAT DUTCH INN. 



„ .,,. 'iu,piy,;..r.;. 


'''^'''■"'"'Viii 


iiiiiliBlii^i^l 






BiliHiliBiliiii 


- ; \x- 






f ': '^ 


1 ^^ 






^ ;'•'•;' ' 






III"" 




1*. 

i 







READING A CONDEMNED BOOK. 



2 26 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Go to a Dutch farm house, visit the cow shed even, and everything 
is as neat as wax. The cow herself is clean, and the brass milk pails, 
arranged in racks outside the shed, seem to actually add light to the 
landscape. The house is before you, painted green and white, the flower 
pots are red, the vegetable and flower gardens are trim and fresh, and 
the farmer's wife and daughter are the neatest of them all. It is not 
hard to understand why the Dutch love their homes, such types of order 
and purity. Another explanation has been given to account for the 
native passion for cleanliness and that is the fact of the humidity of the 
atmosphere which would produce mildew, rust and other destructive 
agencies, if the people were not constantly painting, rubbing and polish- 
ing. 

THE KERMIS AND HOME. 

There is one occasion, however, which completely submerges every 
trace of native sedateness, and that is the Kermis, which was formerly a 
Catholic festival following a season of penance and fasting. As long as 
the season of festivities continued red wooden crosses stood in the 
churches, before the city gates and bridges and at the district boundaries. 
This custom continued until after the Reformation and the Kermis was 
the excuse for much disorder, drunkenness and crime. Then, as now, the 
foundations of the national character seemed overturned. Notwith- 
standing the efforts of the clergy to have the Kermis suppressed, both 
for its bad effects and because it is a relic of Catholicism, it flourishes as 
a national institution, although in Amsterdam it has been abolished. In 
Rotterdam it continues for a week, and in towns and villages the festiv- 
ities are boisterously sustained for several days. The Kermis is of the 
nature of an average country fair, but the participants, especially in prim- 
itive Friesland, move about from town to town, singing, drinking and 
dancing day and night, seeing the sights, having their fortunes told, and 
eating very small pancakes ("broedertjes ") and pickled vegetables. 

The Kermis is the best place in the world in which to observe the 
many varieties of Dutch costumes. The islanders of the north of Hol- 
land do not seem to belong to the country, the men wearing enormous 
wide breeches and jackets, made of the coarsest stuffs. On the other 
hand, the Zeeland farmers of Southern Holland appear in natty jackets 
and knee breeches of black velveteen, grey stockings and scarlet waist- 
coats, a row of silver buttons running down the front to a belt, in the 
center of which flare two immense bosses of the same metal. In many of 
the towns modern costumes are crowding out the picturesque old, and 
often there is a quaint blending of the two. For instance, over the " head- 



THE KERAIIS AND HO.ME. 



iron," as it is called, will often be drawn, not only a linen or lace cap but a 
modern bonnet, with artificial flowers, feathers, ribbons and all. The 
"head-iron '' is a skull cap made of finely polished gold or silver, and its 
origin is uncertain. When made of the baser metal it might have been a 
badge of servitude ; now it is an ornament and heirloom, being pre- 
sented to the girl when she is confirmed at church. At the top there is 
a hood for ventilation, a fringed lace hood falls to the shoulders and 
pendants of gold hang from the edge of the cap, or a broad band is 
worn across the forehead almost 
in a line with the eyes. Over 
all this, as stated, is sometimes 
worn a bonnet of modern con- 
struction. 

Kermis over, however, the 
Dutch Boer returns to his round 
of duties and faithfully performs 
them until the next season of 
national relaxation comes round, 
his machinery being kept in 
smooth running order by his 
pipe, his tea cup, his church and 
small social affairs. If his worldly 
affairs are not prosperous the 
interior of his cottage will be 
found divided off by w^ooden par- 
titions into a number of rooms, 
with a loft for corn and hay 
above. Racks for dishes are 
fixed against the wall. If his 
home is particularly exposed to 
inundations, the family bed con- 
sists of a huge square box, raised 
six or seven feet from the floor, 
approached by ladders and filled with warm grasses or sea weed. Like 
the Turk coming into the mosque, the Dutch peasant takes off his shoes 
when entering his house , but the Boer leaves his without. They may 
be painted white, black, red, white and blue, and artistically carved ; but 
in the true rural districts the number of shoes ranging near the cottage 
door will indicate the extent of the company to be found within. 

One of the first things which a stranger notices when entering a 
Dutch house is that it has no fixed grate or stove. The stoves are 




GOING TO BAPTISM. 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



usually portable and may be hired, like a carriage, of regular dealers in the 
property. The invariable fuel, however, is peat or a coke made from 
peat. In summer, stoves are generally removed from the houses and 
much of the fire which cooks the householder's food and boils his tea and 
coffee, is sold to him. In some street close at hand is an industrious 
Dutchman, who at breakfast and tea time sends out a force of boys with 
small iron vessels containing a kettle of water upon a red-hot turf to be 
delivered at the houses in the neighborhood. The same individual, also, 
often contracts to wake persons who are obliged to rise early, and over 

his shop is a sign 
which, translated, 
means, " Here they 
knock and wake per- 
sons," 

But it was of peat 
that we intended to 
particularly speak ; for 
peat is used not only 
in the house but in 
many factories, and 
there are as many 
grades of it in Holland 
as there are of coal in 
America. The con- 
sumption of peat has 
increased, in a greater 
ratio than coal, and, 
perhaps, next to the 
EXTERIOR OF A DUTCH HOUSE. fisheries, its excava- 

tion, preparation and transportation employ more people than any 
other industry of the country. The fuel cut from the low beds of Hol- 
land is preferable for its compactness and fineness, although much of 
the peat is now compressed by machinery and transformed into char- 
coal. For running machinery regular coal is undoubtedly preferable. 

PEAT BEDS, HIGH AND LOW 

Whole villages and districts in Holland owe their prosperity to the 
acres of peat beds which have been exposed in the course of centuries. 
Whether the beds are high or low, they have to be drained of water, 
with this difference : From the high beds the water is first drained 
before the peat is cut, while that which lies on a lower level is spaded 




PEAT BEDS, HIGH AND LOW. 2 2Q 

and removed under water, the stratum of clay having first been taken 
away. The process of draining the high lands sometimes requires seven 
or eight years before the bed can be worked at all, trenches being dug 
and gradually deepened, which run into a central canal, where great 
barges wait to receive the fuel. After the peat has been cut into squares, 
lifted and piled so scientifically that every side is exposed to wind and 
sunshine, each piece is turned by women and children, that which is least 
dry being placed on top. When the whole yield is dry it is stored in 
sheds, arranged on laths or planks, and is ready for shipment. 

But before it gets under cover an unusually rainy season may cause 
the owner great loss by transforming the entire product into almost a 
liquid consistency. The carelessness of a workman, or of a villager who 
lives in the peat district, may be the means of destroying hundreds of 
acres of the fuel bed before it even sees the light of day. A stray match, 
a piece of lighted sod thrown upon the ground which has been used for 
boiling a tea kettle, may start such a smoldering conflagration in the 
drained mass of fuel as will hollow out the bed of a pond or a lake. 
This danger has also been used as a weapon in the course of the Hol- 
lander's unique campaigns against national enemies. One strikingly 
effective move of this nature was made against the Spaniards, by which 
their only practicable road was undermined, gouged into enormous hol- 
lows, flooded and made useless, gulfs and lakes being thrown across their 
military pathway. 

It was the working of the low peat beds for so many years which 
filled Holland with lakes and marshes, to drain which the windmill pumps 
arose and her great canal system was perfected. When the soft sods 
are cut and lifted from beneath the water, they are thrown into barges 
and carried to land. There they are placed in large circular troughs and 
trodden into a doughy consistency, stones and roots being thrown out 
as the work progresses. This mass is allowed to dry in the trough, after 
which the workman fastens a plank to either foot and enters his tread- 
mill again to smooth the surface. The peat is then cut and dried and 
loaded on to the long, ancient-looking turf boats, which in no mean pro- 
portion form in line with the milk and passenger boats which enliven 
the highways of Holland. The boats are provided with wooden houses 
in which the boatmen live with their families, and when one is loaded 
with these vegetable blocks, piled with the utmost precision and only a 
few inches above water, it is in appearance a new order of Merrimac 
transferred to Holland waters. Women often assist in the unloading, 
the final transfer being accomplished in clumsy hand-carts of the same 
pattern, it is said, as those in which the Spaniards brought their muni- 



230 THE world's fair. 

tions of war into the country. The Spanish carts, of course, were drawn 
by horses, but it was made unlawful to construct hand-carts according to 
this model, although old ones might be repaired. 

The utility of peat does not end with its burning. In place of 
piles, it is used as a foundation for houses built in marshy districts. Its 
ashes constitute a valuable fertilizer, its soot cleans steel or tin, its smoke 
prepares salt meats and herrings, and the substance is employed in the 
manufacture of ink and paper. 

THE HERRING FISHERIES. 

Holland obtained its first real start as a commercial nation from the 
privileges which it obtained from England to fish for herring on her 
coast ; this was during the latter part of the thirteenth century. The 
fisheries became a great source of prosperity to Vlaardingen. which is 
still the principal depot, and to other towns, especially when a peculiarly 
fine way of curing herring was discovered and kept a close secret. The 
fishermen who lived in a collection of huts on the south shore of an arm 
of Zu3^der Zee, called Damsluij's, were especially enterprising, — sell- 
ing their fish in all parts of the world and bringing back produce for 
home consumption and for export. This was the basis of Amsterdam's 
foreign commerce and opulence, and, to some extent, the colonization 
schemes of the Dutch and her boldness in foreign lands and waters had 
an inception in the greater prosperity which the herring brought to Hol- 
land. Having added to their stern contest with floods at home this 
broad experience on the high seas, the Dutch became the most success- 
ful navigators in the world, contesting the palm with the bold and hardy 
Portuguese. The war with France and the rivalry of England greatly 
embarrassed their fisheries, and their commerce during the last part of 
the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries greatly 
declined. Both herring fisheries and foreign commerce are improving, 
although the Dutch have never reached the height of power which 
they attained in the seventeenth century. 



THE SCANDINAVIANS. 

HE Cimbri are said to have been the first inhabitants of Den- 
mark. After they had emigrated to Great Britain the Goths 
took possession of the country^ and the son of Odin, their god 
of war, IS reputed to have been their first monarch. The 
people seem to have been divided into two classes : " freemen," 
who were the warriors, pirates and governors of the land, and 
"bondsmen," who were the huntsmen, fishermen and peas- 
ants. While the Danish monarchs were firmly seated on the 
throne of England, Denmark itself was torn wuth civil dissen- 
sions. Finally, however, the country was not only consoli- 
dated, but Norway and Sweden were united to it, the three forming a 
great Scandinavian kingdom. This union, however, was of compara- 
tively short duration. Sweden was erected into a powerful state in the 
sixteenth century, and Norway followed during the first part of the 
present. Germany had for centuries claimed the duchies of Schleswig and 
Holstein, which originally comprised South Jutland. In i864Schleswig- 
Holstein was annexed to the kingdom of Prussia, and is now, therefore, 
a portion of the United Kingdom, while Denmark has been so dismem- 
bered that she retains but the northern part of the peninsula of Jutland, 
with some neighboring islands, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, 
and insignificant possessions in the West Indies. 




THE DANISH PEASANTS. 



For over a century, the peasants were serfs to the crown and to the 
German nobility, and their disabilities were not entirely removed until 
the commencement of the nineteenth century ; and this, notwithstand- 
ing that more than half the population is devoted to agriculture. The 
Danish peasant is the type of bodily health, strong and muscular, of 
middle height, fair complexion, light hair and blue eyes. He is open 
and unsuspicious, not easily aroused to action, and rather yielding in 
disposition. His home is not only cleanly, but indicates that the Dane 
is aesthetic in his tastes. Flowers and pretty little decorations, both 



232 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

without and within, make the cottages gems of art and comfort. The 
peasantry not only cultivate their small farms, but raise horses and cat- 
tle. The horses are especially valued for cavalry or draught purposes, 
and the cattle in connection with the dairy. Sheep, also, are kept more 
for their milk and for their flesh, than for their wool. The Danish 
peasant does not stop at cultivating his farm, tending his live-stock and 
making butter and cheese, but manufactures his own wearing apparel 
and domestic utensils. 

THE DANISH SEAMEN. 

Though individually bold seamen, the Danes are not the warriors of 
the seas that they were when they were the scourge of European coasts 
and the conquerors of England. Other nations have even usurped their 
fisheries, which in the middle ages were of great importance. They are 
more apt, in short, to be the sailors for other countries than to independ- 
ently navigate their own vessels. At home many of them are employed 
in the oyster beds lying near the northeastern coast of the peninsula, 
being a portion of the royal domain. 

Many Danish seamen find employment in Greenland, where their 
nation has established a dozen or more different colonies or factories 
along the coast. Here they may be said to have rather a monopoly of 
the employment, for each settlement is little more than a government 
station, presided over by a trader and his assistant, who receive their 
salaries from Denmark. 

Iceland became subject to Denmark in the fourteenth century, buV 
its natives are more Norwegian than Danish and their institutions and 
language were imported from Norway when its people were pagans , 
so that Norway must have the honor of preserving the ancient tongue 
of the Northmen in its purity. Danes, Norwegians and Swedes meet 
here as upon common ground and sing their ancient sagas. Fishing is 
the chief occupation, although the cod-fishery is prosecuted here to such 
an extent by the French government as to exclude many native seamen. 
From two to three hundred vessels and about 7,000 seamen are engaged, 
more than anything else to train themselves for the navy, 

COPENHAGEN. 

The center of this grand central point of Denmark is a large 
square on an island, from which radiate broad streets, also leading to a 
second island, upon which is built a division of the city called Fred- 
erikshavn. The finest thoroughfare is Broad street, w^hich connects the 



COPENHAGEN. 



233 



square directly with the fortress of Frederikshavn. The old city of 
Copenhagen is called West End, being situated at the extremity of the 



1 

or 






principal island, the ancient royal pal- 
ace having been converted into a his- 
torical treasure house, separate apart- 
ments being set aside for collections 
bearing upon the reign of each king from 
Christian IV, The famous old palace 
of Christiansborg, which was destro) ed 
by fire, was rebuilt during the first por- 
tion of the century. It is on a little 
island, being now the parliament house, 
contains a spacious banqueting hall 
ornamented by four of Thorwaldsen's 
splendid bronze statues, and is, perhaps, 
the city's most imposing structure. 
Other palaces, formerly occupied as 
royal palaces, are devoted to military 
instruction, the fine arts, etc. The 
principal royal residence consists of four 
palaces, erected by different nobles and 
purchased by the King after the de- 
struction of Christiansborg. While a 
royal guest, Thorwaldsen, the great 
Danish sculptor, died suddenly of heart 
disease. His magnificent marble work 




FREDERICKSHAVN. 

" Triumphal Entry of 



Alex- 



234 THE world's FAIR. 

ander into Babylon," adorns the palace, and other evidences of his 
genius are seen in the churches and public buildings of Copenhagen. 
The body of the modest man lies in a fitting mausoleum, in a museum 
which the city erected to contain the works which he bequeathed 
to it. The museum of Northern antiquities, representing the stone, 
bronze and iron ages, is unrivaled in the world, and the royal library 
is among the largest in Europe. In a word, Copenhagen is a magnifi- 
cent city, and the most of Denmark's commercial and intellectual ac- 
tivity is to be found in it. 

Although born in what is now German territory, Tycho Brahe, who 
was of true royal blood, received his education in Copenhagen, and as 
the father of practical astronomy Denmark has the honor of giving him 
to the world. 

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARY. 

The natural division between Norway and Sweden is a mountain 
chain covered with forests; the artificial division is "a. broad avenue cut 
in the forest and having at certain intervals stone monuments. This 
avenue is maintained with great care by the Norwegians, and its condi- 
tion regularly reported to their Legislature." The Norwegian side of 
the chain is generally rocky and precipitous, while in Southern Sweden 
it consists more of a plateau, from which rise lofty peaks and which 
declines gradually toward the seashore. The southern extremity is a 
fertile plain. Northern Sweden is rocky and bleak, and Central Sweden 
essentially a forest country. In the regions toward Lapland the wild 
reindeer are met with, while the brown bear is found in the dense forests 
and is shot and trapped. 

RAVAGES OF THE LEMMINGS. 

A greater enemy to Sweden than the bear or any other beast is an 
animal of the rat species, not more than five inches in length. Period- 
ically vast troops of these animals, called lemmings, come down from the 
north where they have been feeding on moss, lichens and grass, and emi- 
grate toward the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Bothnia. Hawks and 
owls above them, and bears, wolves and foxes behind them, and in their 
very ranks, do not so diminish their mighty numbers as to prevent a 
wholesale devastation of crops and pastures. Huntsmen and villages 
turn out and wage war against this invasion of the beasts of the field, 
but armies of the lemmings find their way to the warmer coast regions. 
After having spent a winter there the experience through which they 



PEASANT AND COTTAGER. 235 

have passed does not deter the old ones from migrating again to their 
northern grounds, being reinforced by millions of the younger genera- 
tions. These migrations southward are said to be occasioned by a 
pressure of population in the northern mountains of Scandinavia, for 
lemmings breed almost as rapidly as rabbits. The Lapps eat the lemming. 
In ancient times the Scandinavian peasants', seeing these animals 
descending from the mountains and from the north, like clouds from 
above, imagined that they fell as plagues from heaven, and they were 
often exorcised by the priests as troops of evil spirits. 

PEASANT AND COTTAGER. 

These are representatives of two distinct classes, the peasant being 
one who owns his land and house, while the cottager hires both and may 
be called a farm laborer. Although the tendencies of the Swedes are 
toward democratic ideas, the cottager is far below the peasant socially. 
The agriculturists are crowding out the nobility, many of whom are now 
extemely poor, though so proud that they will not labor to retain their 
property. They formerly owned one-fifth of the lands of the kingdom. 
Those engaged in the manufacturing industries, such as making cotton 
and woolen cloths, silks and leather, and the metal workers are called 
burghers. Although the Swedes as a people still drink considerably, 
the legislation of the kingdom has checked this vice very perceptibly, so 
that the distilleries within thirty years have decreased from nearly 90,000 
to a few hundred. There is still much to be accomplished in this line, 
however, since many of the Swedish peasants, cottagers and working- 
men give both Sunday and Monday to dissipation ; the latter especially, 
which with other people is called " Blue Monday," being the first work- 
ing day of the week, is usually set aside for such a decided jubilee that 
it has been dubbed in Sweden " Free Monday." And yet though so 
many thus strike out a laboring day from the week, the nation is thrifty, 
industrious, progressive and independent, gradually absorbing the prop- 
erty formerly held by the nobility merely by right of birth. 

There is one class of householders, however, which stands if any- 
thing above the peasantry. The military colonists form a very important 
body of the army. This grade was established by Charles XI., and 
consists of select soldiers, who are distributed in military districts, and 
each provided with a house and a piece of land. This he cultivates for 
himself, but is actually provided for by the holders of crown lands in the 
district to which he is assigned, receiving his pay in money or in kind. 
The military colonists comprise about 21,000 infantry, and 4,000 cav- 
alry, and as their entire annual period of drill does not exceed a month 



2^6 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



and a half, the service is not much of a hardship. The regular reserve 
is drawn from the whole male population, between the ages of twenty 
and twenty-five years, and no substitutes are allowed. Besides these 
are the conscript troops, composing the Royal Guards, Artillery and 
Engineers ; the hussars, the flower of the army, who are enlisted for six 
years and, with the military colonists, comprise the active soldiers ; 
the militia of Gottland, who are not obliged to serve out of the island, 
and the volunteer rifle association. 

THE SWEDES. 

The Swedes are a law-loving people, but are more prone than the 
Danes to stubbornly resist dictation from royal sources. The law which 
regulated the costumes of servants, peasants and, in fact, those of all the 



f^ 



J.^^ 



.M^i^ 






SWEDISH LANDSCAPE. 

lower classes, nearly caused a revolution. Now every one dresses as he 
pleases, the peasants being particularly fanciful in their tastes. Wooden 
shoes, or leather shoes with wooden soles, are a general feature of dress. 
" Men, women and children labor together in the fields ; women do 
various kinds of outdoor work in the towns, such as the mixing of mortar 
and thfe tending of masons, and most of the drudgery in factories. By 
law no children under twelve years of age can be employed in a factory 
and none under eighteen can be required to work after dark." 

Reference has been made both to the Swedes' loyalty and their 
independence. Their attitude toward the Queen is a fair illustration of 
their temperament. She shared the general dislike shown to her hus- 
band, who was struggling against the national parliament of Norway 
and seeking also to subject Sweden closer to royal authority. The 
Norwegian peasants, who really constitute the nation, despite their 



STOCKHOLM, 237 

jealousy of the Swedes, added their voice in protest against his acts, and 
with the concession of the royal pair to some of their most important 
demands, their attitude became more friendly. The marriage of one of 
the young princes to a girl of comparatively humble standing has also had 
its effect. In connection with this affair a little incident is related, which 
is worthy of notice. The Queen was obliged to submit to a serious 
surgical operation, and upon what she thought would be her death-bed, 
gave her consent to the union. While the surgeons were plying the 
knives the palace was besieged by a dense crowd of anxious subjects, 
and when the Queen had passed the ordeal she was so affected by the 
general solicitude that she expressed her feelings in public print. 
The royal family, in fact, seem to make the newspaper as com- 
mon a vehicle for the conveyance of their sentiments and of in- 
formation as any of their subjects. It was reported, not long ago, 
that one of the King's sons was about to marry a certain lady^ 
whereupon the prince inserted a card in a newspaper, which read 
thus concisely : 

" I never saw that lady but five minutes." — Oscar, 
Such little incidents as these make one realize the small distance 
which lies between the peasant and the King of Sweden and Norway. 

STOCKHOLM. 

The pride of Sweden is Stockholm and it is undoubtedly one of the 
most attractive of European capitals. The city proper is built upon 
three islands, the surface of which has been raised by piles far higher 
than the natural level, and connected by massive bridges. The royal 
palace, a massive structure of granite, stands upon the central island and 
the most elevated, which is further adorned with government buildings 
and great mercantile houses. Upon another island are most of the ele- 
gant stores and mansions and the national museum. The working classes 
occupy the third island. All around, upon the islets which stud adjacent 
waters, are extensive pleasure grounds, monuments, royal palaces, and 
everything which can please the eye and gratify the national taste. The 
tombs of Sweden's royal soldiers and of Bernadotte, her adopted king, and 
the founder of the present dynasty, are in the churches of Stockholm. 
In the city is also shown the house where Swedenborg was born. Hun- 
dreds of manufactories send their clouds of smoke over the fair expanse 
of waters and great vessels and steamers move majestically past her har- 
bor fortress and moor at her quays, upon which the roval palace fronts. 
The city is connected with the mainland by railway. 



238 THE world's fair. 

THE NORWEGIANS. 

The Danish language, with unimportant modifications, is generally 
spoken in Norway as in Sweden ; but the mountaineers and sailors of 
the north who do not frequent the towns use a dialect more like the old 
Norse tongue. As the language of the Northmen was exported from 
Norway to Iceland nearly a thousand years ago, so within the past cent- 
ury an attempt has been made to revive the Icelandic tongue, or the 
Norse, in Norway. The different dialects now in vogue away from 
those parts of the kingdom which were subject to Danish influence, when 
the country was a dependency of Denmark, not only conform quite closely 
to the old Norse, but the very costumes of the people seem to belong to 
another age. The women wear immense woolen skirts and bright colored 
knit bodices, fastened and adorned with silver or brass clasps and 
buckles. 

WILD LIFE ON THE COASTS. 

On the western coasts of Norway, amid the rocks, precipices, cata- 
racts, maelstroms, glaciers, pine forests and icy fiords, the strong, yellow- 
haired Norwegian, daring the awful storms of that wild region in his 
weather-beaten fishing smack, is the true son of the Northman. From 
the crest of the waves he can witness some of the wildest sights in the 
world. Sea and land are wild and bold, and he clings to them both 
until flesh and blood cry out — and then he emigrates. 

Although fish is caught in every lake and stream of the interior, 
the salmon, herring and cod fisheries of the coast are the most impor- 
tant. The latter, alone, give employment to about 25,000 men. The 
chief grounds are the Loffoden Islands, which lie above the Arctic circle. 
At the southwest end of this group is the famous m.aelstrom. From 
this point the coast of the Arctic ocean trends northeast toward the 
Russian frontier, and is so cut up into rocky islands, solitary rocks, 
peninsulas and promontories, that it is simply a tremendous jumble of 
sea, land and mountain. At places the stormy waves beat into the fiords 
through desolate gorges nearly to the Swedish boundary, while all of the 
land not dashed by the sea is heaped with mountains which send their 
great glaziers to the water's edge. It is Switzerland set down on the 
sea-shore in the Polar regions. 

The influence of the sea and of the Gulf Stream, however, greatly 
modifies the climate, so that it is more mild than any other country in so 
high a latitude. Norway contains the highest point of land, and the 
most northerly town in Europe, and )-et many of the western and north- 



A GIGANTIC SNOW FIELD. 239 

ern fiords are nearly frozen. Those of the south, on the contrary, are 
filled with ice, as they escape the direct influences of the Gulf Stream. 

A GIGANTIC SNOW FIELD. 

It is in Southwestern Norway that the highest mountains, the 
greatest snow fields and the vastest glaciers are found. Bordering the 
shores of Sogne Fiord, which extends for many miles inland, are peaks 
which shoot 8,000 feet above the sea. At a lower level of about 1,000 
feet is the snow field of Justedal, the largest in Europe, covering an 
area of 600 square miles. From this and other plains of snow vast gla- 
ciers slow^ly fall toward the sea, but are often arrested by more level 
land, in which have been formed deep lakes. The upper valleys and 
heights, as in Switzerland, are covered with forests of pine, and pastures 
to which cattle are driven. These famous pines also fringe the fiords, 
and are, next to the fisheries, Norway's greatest source of revenue. 
Among the industrial arts ship-building is almost the only one which is 
extensively cultivated, the people being generally their own manufact- 
urers. The most extensive forests of pine and fir stretch along the rivers 
which flow into the southern fiords, in the vicinity of Christiania. Not 
only are the woods alive with lumbermen, but the industry has built up 
whole villages, and the timber merchants of Norway are among her sub- 
stantial citizens. The scene of the greatest activity is Dram men, a 
small city in direct water communication with the capital, and to which 
most of the lumber is sent for export. Drammen also has manufactories 
for rope, sails, etc., and may be considered the most important out- 
fitting point for vessel-men in Norway. The wood is not only converted 
into ship-material, much of it also being sent to France, but is used for 
fuel in working the copper and iron mines. 

UNCERTAINTY OF CROPS. 

On account of the sandy texture of the small area of arable land 
more attention is given to the raising of cattle, horses, sheep and goats, 
than to agriculture. There are vast pasture lands of rich quality scat- 
tered all along the mountain ranges, and the small farm in the lower 
lands is often but a mere shelter for the stock during the winter and 
a source of supply for their feed. As a rule the cultivators own 
their own land, the laborers on an estate usually hiring a small tract 
from the proprietor that they may keep a few cows and sheep. Rent is 
paid in labor, much of which falls to woman's lot. The principal crop is 
barley ; the other grains, with fruits, are raised almost entirely in Southern 



240 THE world's fair. 

Sweden. But the inferior nature of the soil and the crude methods 
employed make the crops so uncertain that, in the best of seasons, they 
are insufficient for home consumption and corn and potatoes are imported 
in large quantities. Rye and barley also come from Denmark and 
Russia. 

To a limited extent, the government has provided for this uncer- 
tainty by establishing corn magazines throughout the country. When 
the season is good the farmer deposits his surplus and is guaranteed 
I2i^ per cent annually for it. If times are bad, however, he is obliged 
to pay 25 per cent, in order to borrow the grain. In times of great dis- 
tress the peasants are sometimes reduced to the necessity of resorting 
to the pine forests for their bread, tearing away the bark from the 
great trees and grinding the inner substance into a kind of meaL 

AS MAN AND CITIZEN. 

The Norwegian sailors, peasantry, lumbermen and kindred workers 
take away so much of the population from the towns that there is only 
about one-tenth left for them. The result is that the voters belong to 
the rural classes. Even Christiania, the capital and principal city, has 
only about 70,000 people, but here is centered their independent national 
life ; here, in its own home, sits the native parliament, or Stortling, 
which represents the sovereignty of the Northmen over the King. The 
suffrage is based upon property qualifications. Voters choose their 
deputies, the proportion being one in the towns to two in the rural dis- 
tricts. The deputies elect the Stortling representatives, who assemble 
annually. That body may overrule the King's veto, as it has repeatedly 
done. It may keep the Swedish army out of its dominions, or keep 
the Norwegian army in, just as it pleases. The King must spend a por- 
tion of his time in Norway, and while he is in Sweden the Norwegians 
have their ministers near him at Stockholm. For all practical purposes, 
in fact, the Norwegians are an independent people, governed by their 
own representatives. They preserve their own official language, their 
own flag, their own government, and at the fortress of Aggerhuns, 
erected in the middle ages, they guard their national archives and 
regalia. The Norwegians have never quite forgiven the Swedes for 
accepting from Russia the present of their country, which she had no 
right to give away, and the remembrance of repeated invasions of 
Swedish armies is still keen. 

Within the past forty years, however, under the most conciliatory 
rule of the monarchs, the wounds show signs of healing ; but the uncom- 



THE ICELANDERS. 24I 

promising Norse spirit of the rural population will crop out, and although 
the Norwegian voter and citizen may be peaceable enough under the 
decrees of his Stortling, when it comes to voting extra supplies to the 
royal family, he often says " nay " in a voice which comes down to him 
from the fierce old sea-kings. 

THE ICELANDERS. 

Politically, the Icelanders are related to the Danes as the Norwegians 
are to the Swedes. They are nominal subjects, merely, possessing home 
rule in every particular. As stated, the Icelanders are descendants of 
the Northmen. They carried their language with them, and through their 
national songs, which commenced to appear shortly after they settled the 
island, they have retained it. Their sagas are not only outbursts of 
poetry, but have historical value, in that they treat of events m the reigns 
of famous kings of Norway and Denmark and of such home affairs as 
the discovery of American lands. The world of philology, history and 
literature is therefore far more indebted to the Norwegians of Iceland 
than to the Norwegians of Norway. Although a land composed of outer 
masses of active volcanoes, and beyond a tableland of rocks, lava and 
mud, with occasional fertile valleys, the Icelanders are proud of their 
country and of their history. Their volcanoes may spout, their precious 
meadow land sink into a crevasse, or huge islands shoot up from the bot- 
tom of the sea. They may have scurvy and elephantiasis and live in 
turf and lava huts. They may wash their clothes in boiling springs one 
day and find nothing but rocks and ice there the next. They may have 
no roads, no vehicles, and few means of communicating with each other. 
They may live upon mutton, sour butter, fish and the like, with what they 
can afford to import, but still they are a proud people. 

In this dreary country coal is an article of luxury, and in some dis- 
tricts the dried refuse of sheep and sea fowl is the only fuel which can 
be obtained, so that a fire is seldom made, except in the small kitchen, 
even in winter. And yet the women knit their stockings and gloves, and 
the men tend their cattle, if they have any, and fish and hunt, bartering 
their home manufactures, skins, feathers, eider-down, oil, etc., for 
hoarded treasures of grain, flour, coffee, sugar, tobacco and liquor. 
Their children are as industrious, but what makes the Icelanders proud 
and almost contented is that they have their literature. They have few 
primary schools, but it is rare to find an Icelander who can not read and 
write. For the sake of their literature and their language each com- 
munity is interested in the education of every child. " Parents, besides 



242 THE world's fair. 

teaching their children all they know themselves, are careful to send 
them for further instruction to better informed neighbors. All the books 
and manuscripts in the house, as well as those to be found within a 
radius of fifty miles, are read aloud over and over again to the family 
and discussed by them. Moreover, there is a law enabling the pastor or 
overseer of the parish to remove the children of careless parents and 
board them with others who will teach them. This is done at the ex- 
pense of the parish when the parents are too poor to pay." With the 
Icelanders amusement and education walk hand in hand ; for the pe- 
rusal of the " Edda," in which is incorporated their ancient mythology, the 
reading of the sagas and the reciting of tales and legends constitute a 
large part of their diversion, as they did when Columbus visited them, 
over four centuries ago. 





THE RUSSIANS. 

THOUSAND years ago the Slavs consisted of a number of 
tribes who had settled near the sources of the great rivers of 
Southern Russia and had for neighbors the Finns, who 
occupied the country nearer the Baltic Sea. These races were 
continually harassed by the warlike people to the west, the 
Teutonic tribes attacking them by land, and the Scandinavian 
giants rushing up the shores of the sea and falling upon them 
from that direction. Like the ancient Britons they sent for 
foreign aid. The Normans therefore came to rule over them 
and to protect them. From this union resulted the modern 
Russian and the greatest empire, in continuous extent, in the world. The 
country was often parceled out to rival princes who quarelled, was con- 
solidated, was oppressed by the Mongol Khan for more than two cent- 
uries and a half, but at last threw out its mighty arms and firmly grasped 
one-seventh of the globe's solid land. 

A GIGANTIC LAND. 




The country of the Slavs can not be spoken of except in mighty 
figures. Its boundaries, if extended in one continuous line, would nearly 
encircle the earth. When the Slav has passed from the eastern to the 
western limits of his dominion he has traveled more than a quarter round 
the globe. Russia is a giant, with arms extended from ocean to ocean, 
with head lifted into the eternal frosts, and with a sword dangling from 
his belt he watches, from under his shaggy brows, the Turks, the Per- 
sians and the Mongolians, who lie at his feet. 

The Russian is now attempting to digest, in his capacious stomach, 
scores of Tartar and Mongol tribes, the Pole who is the purest represent- 
ative of the Slavic tribes, the Finn, the Lapp and the Circassian ; at the 
same time girdling himself with railroads and telegraph lines ; keeping an 
eye upon China, India, Afghanistan and Turkey, and, by way of diver- 
sion, periodically sharpening his sword and cleaning his gun. 

243 



24' 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



very obscure. They first 




A COSSACK FAMILY 



The origin of the Cossacks is 
pearecl about the middle of the four- 
teenth century in their present strong- 
hold on the vast steppes west of the 
Don. At first they were subject to the 
King of Poland who gave them a 
military organization. They were 
members of the Greek Church, how- 
ever, and rebelled against Jesuit per- 
secutions. They submitted to Russia, 
both the Cossacks beyond the Dneiper 
and the Cossacks of the Don, and 
although their revolts have been the 
fiercest and most dangerous with 
which the empire has had to contend, 
they have for the past century form^ed 
an invaluable body of the Czar's army. 
But before they had become the 
the servants of the Czar they accomplished the task of conquering 

Siberia. Yermak Timofeyeff 
fled to its wilds before the 
fury of Ivan, and after a year 
of successful warfare against 
the scattered tribes of fish- 
ermen and hunters, he forced 
them to acknowledge the 
superiority of his band of 
warriors, and, as payment 
for his pardon, presented the 
vast country to the Czar. 

In times of war every 
man from eighteen to fifty 
years of age mounts his 
/ small, hardy horse, and arm- 
ing himself with lance, pis- 
tol, carbine and sabre, holds 
himself in readiness to obey 
the orders of his grand chief, 
the Crown Prince of Russia. 
As light-mounted warriors; 
asmusquitoes harassing the 
have no equals. They are as 




flanks of an army, the Cossacks 



A GIGANTIC LAND. 



245 



untiring as their horses, and their great bear-skin caps and trousers were 
nightmares to the weary troops of Napoleon as they struggled homeward 
over the snow fields and icy rivers of Russia. 

Except that the^ pav this military service to the Czar the Cossacks 

are almost independent 
within the country as- 
signed to them. The 
chief of the Cossacks 
was formerly called the 
Attaman, and he was 
elected by being buried 
under a heap of their 
great fur caps ; these 
massive votes were cast 
at the candidates in pub- 
lic meeting, and he who 
had the largest heap was 
proclaimed Attaman. 
The office was abolished 
when the Cossacks re- 
volted under Mazeppa, 
a Polish refugee — he of 
Byronic fame — but it 
was restored, and by the 
Emperor Nicholas vest- 
ed in the Crown Prince. 
The Cossacks are 
chosen by the govern- 
ment as specially fitted 
by their bravery and ac- 
tivity to guard the front- 
iers of Southern Russia 
and to keep in check the 
fierce tribes of the Cau- 
casus country. In their 
strongest positions they 
therefore establish forts, 
called kreposts, the most prominent features of which are the watch-tow- 
ers, from which they can signal, by means of fire, when threatened with 
attack, and, call assistance for many miles around. It is stated, how- 
ever, that this duty is so distasteful to the free tastes of the Cossacks 




246 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



that suicides are not uncommon among those consigned to such con- 
finement. The strategic part which the Cossacks play in the actual 
mihtary system of Russia is to unite an army on the march with its 
base of suppHes, or with the empire itself. In times of war this irreg- 
ular cavalry is supported by Calmucks, Buriats, Tungooses and other 
Siberian tribes. 

Most of the Siberian tribes pay merely a tribute of furs to the im- 
perial government, this being the only mode of taxation which their cir- 
cumstances would allow. The whole of Siberia is ostensibly divided 
into civil districts but really into military departments, governed by mili- 
tary men. An invaluable aid to the Russian officials are the Cossacks, 
who are often placed in responsible posi- 
tions themselves, where they are peculiarly 
useful in enforcing the fur tax and other- 
wise in bringing the power of the imperial 
government home to the Siberian tribes. 

THE CIRCASSIANS. 

The great wedge of territory which 
Russia has driven down between the Black 
and the Caspian Seas is the Caucasus 
country. The Caucasus mountains stretch 
through the region from sea to sea, and in 
their deep valleys ripen the fruits of the 
tropics, while on the higher lands temper- 
ate fruits and grains are grown. Rice, 
tobacco, sugar-cane and cotton are raised, 
and fine timber stretches almost to the ready for action. 

snow line. The Caucasians who dwell in this region, so varied in its fer- 
tility, are divided into agreat number of tribes of the Indo-European race. 
They have always been bold and resolute, shepherds and agriculturists 
among themselves,and robbers and guerrillas to the Persians, Russians and 
Turks. Their last decisive struggle for national life was made against the 
Russians, during the first half of the present century. A Mohammedan 
priest organized a movement in 1823, and it was enthusiastically upheld 
by the military chieftains of the tribes. By the death of several import- 
ant leaders the conduct of the war finally fell into the hands of a young 
man named Shamyl, who for a quarter ot a century resisted the Russian 
arms. He not only became a military leader of renown, but organized 
a government among the diverse tribes, establishing a capital and a code 




THE CIRCASSIANS. 



247 



of laws. But he could not hold the confederation together, and being 
taken prisoner at the siege of one of his mountain forts in 1859, he was 
taken to Russia and held as a prisoner of state for twenty-one years. 
He afterwards went to Mecca. 

The bravest of the hostile tribes during this last long war were the 
Circassians, who denied the right of Turkey to cede their country to Rus- 
sia. They lived between the Kuban river, the Caucasus mountains and 
the Black Sea, south of the Cossack country. Their land was rugged, 
except near the river, but they wished to hold it as subjects of Moham- 
medan Turkey. 

The Circassians are called robbers by the Tartars ; they call them- 
selves the noble, and are divided into 
numerous families governed by princes of 
blood. Below the princes are the nobles, 
middle class, retainers and serfs. The 
princes and nobles constitute a landed 
Ai Kl ■'■fi^^ aristocracy, and are allowed the privilege 

of regulating even the marriage and edu- 
cation of the villagers. The middle class 
are the elders and wise men of the vil- 
lages, who stand in place of the laws, 
while the retainers and serfs are the com- 
mon soldiers and laborers. The Circas- 
sians are democratic in regard to their 
food and residences, but the nobility only 
can wear red and appear in war with 
costly equipments of mail, sword and 
A CIRCASSIAN GIRL. rifle; and though there are princes, nobles 

and retainers, the princes may be deposed for misconduct and the 
retainers may leave the service of their lord and transfer their allegiance 
to another. 

The Circassians are polygamists, but the wealthiest seldom have 
more than two wives. They are absolute masters of their wives and 
children, and notwithstanding the Russian government forbids them 
selling their daughters to Turkish harems, considerable of the nefarious 
business is carried on. The majority of the Circassian girls, however, 
are obtained from the thousands of emigrants who left Russia for 
Turkey in 1864, when they found that they could not retain their coun- 
try and be independent of the Czar. To prevent the traffic in slaves 
within her dominions Russia has built a number of forts on the coasts of 
the Black Sea. 




248 



THE world's fair. 



The beauty of the Circassian girls has not been exaggerated. They 
have fine forms, beautiful eyes and hair, and their complexion is made 
simply dazzling by their open air life, their exemption from hard labor 
and their careful diet. When they marry, and are no longer subjects for 
the Turkish harem, then they do the household work as their mothers 
did before them. 

The men shave their heads and dress in the tunic and trousers of 
the East. Their garments are confined at the waist by a leather belt and 
on each side of the breast is a row of cartridges kept in small pockets. 

GOVERNMENT AND ARMY LIFE. 



As one would be able to gather, by putting together certain facts 
already given, the government and army of Russia are one Whether 
in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, the 
Don country, the country of the Caucasus 
or Siberia, attempt to place your hand on 
a civil official and you will touch an army 
officer, or there will be one within reach. 
The vast extent of the empire and the 
restless character of its numerous semi- 
civilized tribes make military rule, to a 
great extent, a necessity. 

St, Petersburg is covered by the 
imperial guards as well as the police. 
The active army faces the frontier of 
Europe, with head-quarters at Warsaw, 
a separate corps being reserved for Mos- 
cow and Novgorod. The army of the 
Caucasus includes the Cossacks, the Cir- 
cassians, and Tartars, with many Poles 
who are being gradually drawn from their 
old kingdom. A division of infantry 
occupies Finland, and another is scattered 
over Siberia, subject to the call of the 
governors. In the government of Nov- 
gorod, east of St. Petersburg, and in 
various governments of Southern Russia, are whole brigades and 
squadrons of infantry and cavalry who are outwardly tillers of the soil. 
Lands belonging to the Crown are divided among reliable peasants, who 
are furnished with stock and implements, and each must maintain a 
soldier. When not engaged in the service, the soldier assists the peas- 




SOLDIER OF THE CAUCASUS. 



GOVERNMENT AND ARMY LIFE. 



249 



ant. Both colonists and soldiers are deprived of their beards, and 
uniformed, the peasants being entitled to the surplus of their produce 
after they have contributed to the common magazine of the village and 
done their share toward keeping the roads in repair. Soldiery and 
peasantry intermarry, and the children generally enter the army. In 
addition to the principal soldier, each peasant retains in his cottage a 
substitute, usually his own son, so that if the regular limb of the army 
dies the vacancy can be at once filled. 

The Guard of the Interior and the gendarmes are the police of the 

army, the political 
police and spies, 
and form the con- 
nection between 
the widely-extend- 
ed secret service 
and the military — 
the stone wall 
against which nihi- 
lism commonly 
dashes itself. 

The Russian 
soldiers are care- 
fully drilled, and 
for blind obedi- 
ence, wonderful en- 
durance and un- 
flinching courage 
have not their su- 
periors in Europe. 
The great aim 
seems to be to 
teach both infantry 
and cavalry to fire 
rapidly. Capital 
punishments are 
rare. They are occasionally inflicted in times of war, but the usual 
forms of punishment are transportation to Siberia or corporal dis- 
cipline. Formerly, nobles, magistrates, clergymen, students, and mer- 
chants and traders, enrolled in the different guilds, were exempt 
from service. The noble could nominate his serf to fill up a 
quota, the slave becoming a free man when he entered the army. 




A COSSACK OF THE LINE. 



250 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

If he deserted he was again enslaved. Now there is an annual con- 
scription to which all able-bodied men are liable who have completed 
their twenty-first year. If they so desire, however, educated young 
men may enter a short period of service from their seventeenth year. 
Fifteen years is the period of service in the army, six in the active 
and nine in the reserve. During the latter period the soldier is liable 
to service only In time of war. Under the general law, however, the 
Cossacks, the Finns and the non-Russian tribes are not liable, mili- 
tary service with them being regulated by special enactments. 

Neither army officers nor soldiers save fortunes from their salaries. 
Besides a few allowances and mess money the officer is entitled to a 
servant or two from the government, whom he must equip at personal 
expense. The pay of the common soldier consists of a few dollars in 
money, a new uniform and a stock of flour, salt and meal On fete 
days an Imperial Guard is enabled to eat butcher's meat at govern- 
ment expense, but the soldier of the line has no such allowance. With 
all this niggardly treatment the Czar spends over $100,000,000 on his 
army and as much more for his navy; but it is quite likely that if the 
pay were not so inadequate there would be less jobbing and thieving 
in the service. 

THE SWORD AND THE CROSS. 

The great ally which the Czar possesses in the Church is never so for- 
cibly shown as when his armies are turned toward Constantinople. Then, 
it matters not what the real pretext, the conflict is held up to view as a 
holy war. Never was this truth so evident as when the last imperial 
proclamation of war issued against Turkey. At two o'clock in the 
afternoon a solemn service was ordered to be held in each church of the 
Russian empire, the declaration of war having been read in these 
thousands of holy places. Moscow, especially, that superb, church- 
laden city, which in the Kremlin alone contains almost a city of churches, 
was stirred to its depths. 

Within the massive gates of the FIremlin are cathedrals and 
churches where the Czars have been baptized, crowned, married and 
buried. The Cathedral of the Assumption was the most abandoned 
scene of warlike and religious fervor. Its entrance was kept clear by 
soldiers, and soldiers kept open a passage for the carriage of the Gover- 
nor-General and the plumed generals and officers, with swords and 
spurs. 

At length the civil and militar)' leaders of the people were assem- 
bled and the services commenced. The royal proclamation was read. 



TYPICAL CEREMONIES. 25I 

blessings were bestov/ed upon the imperial arms, prayers were said 
noble and peasant knelt together in a common cause and the bells in 
all the churches of Moscow and the two Russias lashed and clanged 
the empire into fury. The dense crowds without in vain attempted to 
breathe the incense within the temples, and then shouted and reeled 
through the streets, intoxicated with war and smothered beneath war- 
like flags and emblems. 

In speaking of the Greek Church we usually have in mind the 
Russian Church. There is no Patriarch of the Church, as there was 
before Peter's time. The first step towards the founding of the State 
Church was to make the see of Moscow a patriarchate, with jurisdiction 
over the empire, and to cut clear of the Patriarch of Constantinople. 
This was the doing of the Church, however, and the father of Peter the 
Great did not like the pretensions of his bishop. But when Peter 
ascended the throne he proposed to have no one the head of the mighty 
National Church but himself. So when he had matured his plans he 
waited for the death of the Russian Patriarch. He died, and the Czar 
appointed an acting director of the Church, whom he called the Exarch. 
When the people had forgotten to miss their Patriarch, the office was form- 
ally abolished, and the affairs of the Church were placed in the hands of 
the Holy Synod, comprised of high ecclesiastics, and forming a grand 
department of the government. The Minister of Public Worship 
is ex officio a member of the Synod. The liturgy of the Greek Church 
is the same as that of Constantinople, but in the State Church 'it is cele- 
brated in the Slavonic language. As the Czar appoints all the members 
of the Holy Synod, the Russian Church is both imperial and national 
in its character. The Emperor can not modify the dogmas of the Church, 
but the entire organization is under his autocratic control. 

TYPICAL CEREMONIALS. 

The burial of a priest of the Greek Church is eminently character- 
istic of its ceremonials. We describe an actual scene. The church 
was filled to suffocation with perspiring peasants, the heads of most of 
the women being bound with thick shawls. All carried lighted candles. 
In the center of the edifice lay the body of the deceased, clad in his 
ecclesiastical robes and reposing in a white gilded coffin, while the face 
and hands were half buried in white lace. Tall lighted candles draped 
with white crape surrounded the dead priest, and the officiating brothers 
were clad in magnificent robes in which appeared no sombre color. 
Everything was bright or pure white. The head of the deceased was 
bound with a fillet on which was written "The Thrice Holy." 



252 THE world's fair. 

After many chants had been intoned for the repose of the soul, 
priests, relatives and friends came reverently forward to receive the last 
kiss, some being allowed to kiss the cold clay, others contenting them- 
selves with a pressure of the lips upon the cold cofifin. Both forms of 
salutation are thought to be equivalent to the bestowal of a blessing. 
While this affecting ceremony was progressing, a service was also read, 
impressing upon those present the uncertainty of human life, after which 
the absolution was pronounced and a paper placed in the dead priest's 
hand — "The Prayer, Hope and Confession of a Faithful Christian 
Soul." Then an attendant took away the lighted tapers from the mourners, 
the coffin was removed to the hearse without, which was hung with white 
silk and purple and gilt draperies, a gilt crown surmounting all. Two 
priests, robed in yellow garments, stood upon the bier facing each other 
and watching the dead — who is never left alone while the body is 
unburied — while censer-bearers, singing men and boys and the attendant 
holy brothers completed the procession, which slowly passed along the 
street crowded with figures whose every head was bare. As the mourners 
approached a church, the bells were rung, the procession halted, and did 
not again proceed until the receiving priests had laden the air with 
incense and sent the pageant, blessed, on its way. Thus it was passed 
on, from one holy church and brotherhood to the next, receiving a con- 
tinuous benediction from the spectators on the streets and at windows 
of houses, who crossed themselves and took part in the funeral service 
as the procession moved on its way to the cemetery. 

The baptism of a Russian infant of noble blood is usually a matter 
which is in the hands of its god-parents. The god-father stands with 
the god-mother in front of the baptismal font and presents a small golden 
cross which the baby is expected to thereafter wear. The ceremonies 
comprise a blowing in the infant's face three times, signing its name on 
forehead and breast, immersion, and anointing the various parts of the 
body with the holy unction prepared during Holy Week, within the walls of 
the Kremlin, and consecrated by the Metropolitan. There is considerable 
marching around by the god-parents and an impressive service. The 
concluding act is for the priest to cut off a small portion of the child's 
hair in four different places on the crown of the head, inclose it in a mor- 
sel of wax and throw it into the font. 

NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 

The nobility form a separate body in every province, being gov- 
erned by a marshal of their choosing. They pay no poll tax, but are no 
longer free from conscription. After them comes the clergy, which for 



NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 253 

twenty years has not been an hereditary class. The sons of clergymen, 
irrespective of their preferences, are not obliged to follow the service of 
the church. The merchants are next in the social scale, and then the 
burghers and peasants. Since the abolition of serfdom in Russia there 
have been no castes, and social distinctions are also less marked than they 
formerly were. A peasant may become a merchant or a noble. He 
may enter the church and all government preferments are open to him. 
The son of a priest may become a peasant or a noble. The fences are 
down, although the fields are still staked out; but the classes are social 
rather than political. 

The slavery of the Russian peasant was of a double kind. He 
was bound to the soil and to his master. The Tartar composition 
of his blood made him prone to wander, and to wander at pleasure 
meant to rebel. Therefore the slavery of the Russian peasant was, 
primarily, a matter of state policy. The noble was the Czar's police 
officer, though unappointed. He was a task-master, and often a hard 
one, and he was also an unofficial preserver of the peace. In a way 
he accomplished his mission; for the peasantry, as a class, were never 
the Nihilists of Russia. They cultivated the great estates of the nobil- 
ity and were allowed to get a living from a certain piece of land as 
long as they remained rooted to the soil. How the nobles abused their 
position to crush manhood and degrade womanhood has been told in 
whole libraries. The strongest protests, however, came from a numer- 
ous outside class. The Emperor freed the 22,000,000 serfs and gave 
them land to cultivate. He issued the imperial decree two years before 
Lincoln signed the Proclamation of Emancipation, but Alexander of 
Russia only changed one form of slavery into another. That of the 
later days is not quite so grievous, which is the best that can be said 
of it. 

Once the peasant was bound personally to the noble ; now he is 
bound financially to both the Czar and the noble. The government 
assumed, when the serf became a freeman and received the hut and the 
garden patch as his own and was an authorized member of the com- 
mune which holds the village lands, that he was indebted to his former 
master to a certain amount. He had no freedom of choice ; the land 
was thrust into his hands, and he was made a financial slave. The gov- 
ernment advances four-fifths of his debts to the noble, and the remaining 
fifth he still owes to his former master. The government also receives 
its five per cent, interest on the sum it advances, this being paid to it by 
the village or commune of which every peasant is a member. The com- 
mune is the local government, in which every peasant has a voice. To 



2 54 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

it the government granted lands in common, which are apportioned every 
three years according to the number of laboring men and women which 
the family can muster. The commune is responsible as a whole for the 
government interest, the fifth of the debt due the nobility and all other 
taxes and duties. In some communes the soil is poor ; in others there 
are too many idlers — sometimes the peasants manage to meet their 
liabilities, and at other times they can not see how Alexander the Czar 
did them so good a turn. Under the old serf system when an estate 
was not profitably cultivated it was customary for the landlord to allow 
his peasants to seek other more profitable employment ; such a course 
of action was designated " for the good of the estate." It is for a simi- 
lar reason that the communes throughout Russia are granting leaves-of- 
absence, by the thousands, to the manufacturing and commercial towns 
of the Empire. The peasant could run away if he had a noble master ; 
so now he can flee from his commune : but if he has not made up his 
mind to cut all Russian ties, he is obliged to pay into the treasury of his 
commune a percentage of his extra earnings, as he was when he had a 
noble for a master. In many cases, also, the peasant works for his old 
master, cultivating the smaller estate with his own communal field, and, 
with the aid of a whole family, faithfully striving to lift a galling burden 
of debt which was placed there by imperial hands which were supposed 
to be friendly. He is almost as much a slave to the soil as he was pre- 
vious to 186 1, when he was politically a serf. 

It is against such a state of affairs that a large class of educated 
Russians is growing up between the Nihilists and the government. 
Their blood boils at the abuses, but they are not blood-thirsty. There 
are many Count Tolstois in spirit, but few so bold and none so able. 
The Nihilists compose the visible opposition to nobility and royalty, and 
their dark- red organization is one of the wonders of the century. How 
great or how little it is no one knows. But it raises its head in the 
most unexpected quarters. Now a student, now a carpenter, here a 
Jewish peddler, there a noble lady are pounced upon by the secret ser- 
vice. Though the Czar station an ofificial before the doorway of every 
lodging house in St. Petersburg, suspicious persons prowl in and OMt 
and secret meetings are held. Those whom he trusts as his agents are 
Nihilists themselves. His very lackey may be meditating a bomb. An 
unpopular police official is shot. The woman is tried by jury " for attempt" 
and is acquitted. There must be Nihilists on the jury! Letters are 
mysteriously sent to the Czar and his ofificials and revolutionary posters ap- 
pear on the walls of public buildings. The letters are torn up, the posters 
are taken down, extra spies are placed around and in the royal palaces, and 



NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 



=55 



keen policemen patrol the streets night and day. While a spy nods or 
a patrolman turns a corner another letter falls upon the Emperor's pri- 
vate table or an incendiary sheet flares from a blank brick wall. The 
Nihilists compose the visible-invisible opposition to the imperial gov- 
ernment of Russia. 

To resume : The communal land is of three kinds. First is the 
village plat, including the house gardens ; second, the arable land ; and, 
third, the meadow land. The arable land is divided into a number of 
long, narrow strips. " Sometimes it is necessary to divide the field into 
several portions, according to the quality of the soil, and then to sub- 
divide each of these portions into the requisite number of strips. Thus, 




A RUSSIAN VILLAGE. 

in all cases, every household possesses at least one strip in each field ; 
and in those cases where subdivision is necessary, every household pos- 
sesses a strip in each of the portions into which the field is subdivided. 
This complicated process of division and subdivision is accomplished by 
the peasants themselves, with the aid of simple measuring rods, and the 
accuracy of the result is truly marvelous. 

"The meadow, which is reserved for the production of hay, is 
divided into the same number of shares as the arable land. There, how- 
ever, the division and distribution take place annually. Every year, 
on a day fixed by the Assembly, the villagers proceed in a body to this 



256 THE world's fair. 

part of their property, and divide it into the requisite number of portions. 
Lots are then cast, and each family at once mows the portion allotted 
to it. In some communes the meadow is mown by all the peasants in 
common, and the hay afterward distributed by lot among the families ; 
but this system is by no means so frequently used." We now pass 
from the village ofpoverty to the opulent city. 

ST. PETERSBURG. 

St. Petersburg is worthy of the vast empire which it represents ; 
its vastness, the width of its streets, the area of its public squares, the 
gigantic dimensions of its palaces, churches and houses are simply 
oppressive. There is a self-conciousness about the city that its architect 
had deliberately set out to build the most magnificent monument to 
kingly ambition in the world. St. Petersburg was raised from the marsh 
on the graves and shoulders of slaves, but it no doubt impresses the 
world as its founder meant that it should. He also wanted a port on 
the Baltic Sea, and he obtained it, although there was not a square rod of 
the site which he had chosen which would support a massive structure. 

The nobles, the criminals, the men, women and children of the 
two Russias all contributed toward the furtherance of this mammoth 
work. The nobles were obliged to build palaces and the proceeds of 
the sale of lands to them helped erect the government structures. 
Every boat upon Russian waters and every cart on Russian soil fur- 
nished timber, stone or brick. But the city was founded, fairly lifted 
above the mud, within a period of nine years. Succeeding monarchs 
seemed inspired with the determination of Peter the Great, and, though 
the foundations of bridges and buildings might periodically disappear, 
a new set of pilings was driven upon the old and the work of extending 
the city went on. 

Hare Island it is called where Peter laid the first walls of his 
spacious capital. He superintended the building of one of the fortress 
bastions himself, his chief officers taking charge of the other work. "At 
first the fortifications were only built of wood, but three years afterwards 
they were reerected in stone by masons from Novgorod, who were 
assisted by the soldiers. The first fortress was begun May 16, 1703, 
and finished in five months. Wheelbarrows were unknown, and the 
workmen scraped up the dirt with their hands, and carried it to the 
ramparts in their shirts or in bags made of matting. Two thousand 
thieves and other criminals sentenced to Siberia, were ordered to serve 
under the Novgorod workmen. Peter constructed a little brick cottage 



ST. PETERSBURG. 257 

just outside the fortress which he called his palace. Every large vessel 
on the Neva was forced to bring thirty stones, every small one ten, and 
every peasant's cart three, toward the building of the new city." 

St. Petersburg stands but fifty-six feet above the level of the sea, and 
every year when the ice breaks up the lower part of the city is threatened 
with inundation. Warnings of any threatened danger are given from the 
citadel which stands upon an island in the Neva; but even the prompt 
discharge of guns has not always proved effective in giving the citizens 
timely warning. Evidence of this fact is still found In some quarters of 
the city in which red plates are seen afifixed to various houses, twelve and 
fourteen feet above the street, and marking the point to which the flood 
reached in 1824, when thousands of persons perished. Little attention 
is given to the firing of the first gun, that indicating merely an inunda- 
tion. At the second gun people bestir themselves in the lower town and 
commence to move the horses from the stables. The third gun produces 
a panic. 

The canals of St. Petersburg, although furnished with broad granite 
quays, are little used for commerce. The primary object was to drain 
the marshes, and that object has been principally kept in view. Immense 
barges, however, pass back and forth, laden with firewood, building stone 
and rubbish, so that the streets are less encumbered with heavy wagons 
and carts than in other large cities. As in Holland, the women of St. 
Petersburg find the canals convenient for washing purposes. Most of the 
produce and merchandise, also, which comes from the interior of the em- 
pire is distributed to the great markets and warehouses by means of the 
canals. Much of the fruit and grain comes up on these barges from the 
Odessa region ; also hay, in great stacks, is piled upon themx and floated 
from the interior. The firewood, which is mainly of birch, is cut in 
lengths ready for the stove, and the barges themselves, which are little 
better than rafts, are often broken up for fuel. The felling of trees, the 
construction of barges, and the transportation of flesh, fish and fowl to 
the great Frozen Market occupy much of the peasant's time during the 
winter months. 

The Neva does not connect St. Petersburg directly with the marine 
world, for though broad it is too shallow at its mouth to admit large ves- 
sels. Cronstadt is the port of entry and the great vessels whose hulls 
are built in the city's dock yards are floated to its port to receive masts, 
rigging, cargoes or armament. The harbor of Cronstadt is divided into 
three sections — the outer, or military, for ships of the line ; the middle, 
for repairing vessels, and the inner, used only by merchant vessels. 

The town, built <^n the island of Kotlin, opposite the mouth of the 



258 THE world's fair. 

Neva, is strongly fortified, .being- entered by three gates. It contains a 
marine hospital, barracks, cannon foundry, and the small palace in which 
Peter resided, in the gardens of which are several oaks planted by 
his own hand. Between the two canals which intersect the well-built 
town is a naval academy, formerly a palace built by Prince Menchikoff. 
The city of St. Petersburg is divided by the River Neva into two 
great sections, the northern portion being built upon half a dozen islands 
and the southern upon the mainland. The latter is called the Great 
Side, and exhibits most of the grandeur which has made this youngest of 
European capitals so famous. 

THE WINTER PALACE. 

Perhaps the most prominent architectural feature of the capital is 
the Winter Palace, standing in a vast open space in the heart of the city. 
On two sides is the great Admiralty Square, on another the river, and 
on an opposite island the massive fortress, while the fourth side over- 
looks the Hermitage, once the favorite residence of Catherine II., with 
which it is connected by covered bridges. This palace, which, in dimen- 
sions, if not in magnificence, leads the world, is 700 feet square, and 
contains numerous great halls, saloons and suites of apartments, lavishly 
adorned with porphyry and marbles, and magnified into a hundred vast 
palaces by the immense mirrors of its lofty rooms. St. George's hall, 
in which are held the chapters of the different orders, is among the most 
brilliant. During the former residence of the Emperor the palace was 
occupied by six thousand people. 

The palace is used principally for ceremonials by the present Czar, 
who is not prepossessed with the great structure which furnishes so 
many opportunities for the Nihilists. About a year before his father 
was assassinated, near the Catherine Canal, an attempt was made upon 
his life at the Winter Palace; so that Alexander the III. prefers the 
palace on the Neva Perspective which he occupied while Crown Prince. 

The Winter Palace is painted a sort of an orange color, while yellow 
and blue are not unusual tints ; the prevailing color, however, is an imi- 
tation of sandstone. The main entrance looks upon the river. It is a 
marble vestibule of stately proportions and from it great stairways, adorned 
with historic figures in marble, lead to the throne room, reception rooms 
and splendid halls above. The hall of St. George, the reception rooms of 
the Empress and scores of other magnificent apartments, thrown open to 
the public, are blazing with golden decorations and oppressive with silks 
and tapestry, but the living rooms of former imperial families are unat- 



THE WINTER PALACE. 259 

tractive in the extreme. This is particulafly true of the room in which 
the late Czar died and that which was the scene of Emperor Nicholas' 
death, whose heart is said to have broken over the capture of Sebastopol. 

" It is the smallest, plainest room in the whole building, and was at 
once his library and bedroom. Everything remains just as it was when 
he died, and a sentinel always stands at the door. Before the window 
is a small writing desk, upon which are his portfolio, pens, and paper 
exactly as he left them. The plain furniture is worn and dilapidated, 
The iron bedstead, nothing but a camp cot, on which he slept for years, 
is in the corner of the room, with the great military coat he always used 
as a coverlid lying upon it. His patched slippers are beside the bed, 
and upon nails driven in the wall hang his uniform. In a chest of 
drawers near by is his coarse underclothing, and his cane and sword 
are hanging from a hook, with his hat above them. On the walls are 
portraits of some of his generals, and on his little table at the head of 
his bed, with a candlestick and a prayer book, well used, are the pictures 
of his wife and children. Adjoining the little chamber is an ante-room 
in which his ministers awaited an audience, and they had to sit upon an 
ordinary wooden bench. A spiral staircase leads to the rooms of the 
Empress above, so that he and she could go back and forth without pass- 
ing through any other room, and there was a concealed entrance by 
which he could reach the street and return without being observed by 
any one." 

The candle light which has heretofore flickered and gleamed upon 
the magnificence of the Winter Palace has given place to the electric 
glory. It should be added that the Winter Palace is not alone honored 
with electric lights. Nearly all the places of public resort — theatres, 
hotels, government buildings, gardens — have them, as well as many of 
the splendid palaces along the Neva River and the Perspective. The 
merry ring of the telephone is heard in all the land ; the telegraph wires 
are strung on ornamental brackets along the houses, and the only thing 
that is not modern about St. Petersburg is her ancient fire tower, with 
its watchman, signal balls and lanterns. 

The Hermitage connected with the Winter Palace contains a gallery 
of paintings, which is noted for its specimens of the Spanish school, and 
has a fine library as well. But the Imperial library exhibits an array of 
over 1,000,000 volumes, and is one of the greatest libraries in Europe, 
as the Winter Palace is among the first of her palaces. Before ceasing 
to wonder at the magnitude of the Czar's former home, it should be 
remembered that the first Winter Palace was destroyed by fire half a 
century ago, and that this one was erected and occupied within two years. 



26o THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

PETER'S STATUE. 

From the Neva, this locahty presents a superb appearance. The 
Admiralty Square is a mass of grand buildings — the Admiralty, with its 
lofty spire ; the ponderous cathedral of St. Izak, with its great bronze 
domes and niassive pillars of red granite, and other structures of impres- 
sive size. Adjoining the Admiralty is the Palace Square, in which 
stands the monolith of red granite, erected to the memory of Alexander. 
An equestrian statue of Peter the Great, eighteen feet high, occupies 
Peter's Square. Then there is the Field of Mars, where the Czar can 
review 50,000 troops at once. This stupenduous architectural array is 
all drawn up in mighty battalions, like the Russian troops massed 
for an attack upon the Turks, or waiting silently for the approval of their 
mighty monarch. 

Upon the enormous mass of granite which forms the pedestal to 
the statue is inscribed "Peter I., Catherine II., 1782." This pedestal 
is said to be the rock upon which Peter stood to witness a naval victory 
over the Swedes. It was brought from Finland, and in surmounting a 
few of the obstacles to get it to the Czar, a swamp was drained, a forest 
cut down and a long road constructed. 

The horse which Peter rides is represented as laboring up a steep 
ascent, horse and rider being one in fire and determination. They have 
nearly reached the top, and the Czar points with his right hand in the 
direction of the citadel which was the nucleus of his capital. He is 
seated upon a bear's skin and is clad in such simple garments that he 
might be either Russian or American The sculptor. Falconet, explains 
that Peter wished himself to abolish the Russian dress and that the skin 
on which he is seated is emblematic of the nation he refined. The artist 
put no sabre into his hand, because he wished to symbolize only the 
better nature of the Czar. He said, however, nothing about the animal 
which the Emperor bestrode ; the horse should represent the people 
striving upward with Peter the Great upon its back, its muscles strained 
and quivering in its endeavors to reach the summit of his ambitions. 

The suggestive figure of Peter looks toward the tombs of the Kings ; 
for within the citadel is the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, whose 
lofty, slender spire marks the locality wherein are gathered the remains 
of all the monarchs of Russia since his day. A bridge crosses to the 
island. Near the northern entrance to the bridge which leads to the 
fortress is the most ancient church in St. Petersburg, where the Czar 
used to pray. It contains numerous relics, one of its chandeliers being 
turned by his own hand One of the boats which he built is preserved 



PETER'S STATUE. 261 

in his cottage which, in turn, is encased by a larger structure. Here also 
is the gigantic staff which he wielded. Since the death of the great, cruel 
Czar, part of the cottage has been used as a chapel In his first modest 
palace, as well as in the more imperial buildings of the city, evidences 
are continually given of how, despite his gigantic works, Peter loved to 
labor with his own hands. One of the most elaborate is the sledge in 
which he used to travel thousands of miles, deposited in the Museum of 
Imperial Carriages. 

From the Admiralty spire, where the whole city is seen in a bird's eye 
view, one realizes how perfectly the emperors and empresses of Russia 
have developed Peter's idea to make his capital the prototype of the 
national character. If Berlin stands for Germany much more does St. 
Petersburg — a cold, gray, vast, massive city — stand for the empire of 
the Russias. Opposite our point of view is an island on which are the 
Bourse, Academy of Sciences and various military establishments ; to 
the north the citadel island and other islands which resemble gardens 
and groves springing from the water for the purpose of sheltering the 
palaces and villas which they can not hide. The Great Side of St. 
Petersburg has the Admiralty spire as its center. The great canals 
which Catherine dug divide this portion of the city into several sec- 
tions, and the three principal streets radiate from the square. The 
Neva Perspective, as it stretches from the center of the city, increases in 
breadth and magnificence. Palaces, churches and splendid business 
structures tower above its dense bordering of foliage ; for four miles it 
continues its triumphal march, and concludes by taking the first prize 
among the thoroughfares of Europe for unvarying grandeur. There are 
other streets founded upon the same plan but not upon the same scale. 

On the Neva Perspective are the military headquarters and the great 
bazaar in which 10,000 merchants are engaged in business. Greek, Cath- 
olic, Protestant and Armenian churches are strewn along this wonderful 
street, and at its extremity, also marking the city limits, are the convent 
and church of St. Alexander Nevskoi, containing the body of the saint 
in a silver sarcophagus, and the palace of the Metropolitan, a high priest 
of the State Church. The monastery was founded by Peter, to com- 
memorate the victory of Grand Duke Alexander over the Swedes in a 
battle fought upon the very spot. Centuries afterward the duke was 
canonized. 

Aside from the Church of St. Izak, the only other fine religious edi- 
fice in St. Petersburg is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. The lady 
is believed to have the empire under her particular charge, and the cathe- 
dral was built to enshrine her picture, which is said to have the power of 



262 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



performing miracles. The monarchs of Russia worship at her shrine, 
both before they undertake anything of importance and after it is ac- 
comphshed, and therefore their coming is a portentous sign to the com- 
mon people. 

WINTER SPORTS AND SCENES. 

St. Petersburg is almost deserted, in summer, by the fashion and 
nobility of the city, but in winter it is the gayest of European capitals. 
Not only are there theatres especially fitted up for Italian, French, Ger- 
man and Russian companies, but the pecuhar winter sports which the 
people patronize have made the city like no other during the winter fes- 
tivities. It was then that the Winter Palace was once seen at the height 
of its glory. 

But although the great palace is not thrown open to the gayety of 

the winter season, as of yore, the 
residences of the nobility on the 
river front are flooded by brill- 
iancy. Each proprietor attempts 
to outdo the other in executing 
some original idea to entertain 
his friends and spread abroad the 
magnificence of his hospitality. 
By nature the Russians are hos- 
pitable, but it is foreign to their 
disposition to combine simplicity 
with it. One of the most ambi- 
tious of the hosts of St. Peters- 
burg flooded the lower part of 
his palace and turned it into a 
magnificent skating rink, deco- 
rated with evergreens and lighted 
by thousands of wax candles. 
When the brilliant company of 
ladies and gentlemen, wrapped in rich furs, had skated to their hearts' 
content, they adjourned to the apartments above, removed their wraps 
and appeared in full dress to enjoy an elegant banquet. 

The typical St. Petersburg is out of doors in the winter. The river 
is, in places, a gay race course, over which the wealthy Russian merchants 
and noblemen speed their horses in harness, the sledges used being often 
mere shells not weighing more than fifty pounds. Unless the ice is perfect, 
skating is not so favorite a pastime as racing or coasting on the ice hills. 




A LADY OF FASHION. 



A SIBERIAN FATHERLAND. 




ETWEEN the Yenesei and the Lena rivers in the north, and 
along the northern slopes of the Altai Mountains to the Sea of 
Okhotsk, in the south, dwell the Tungooses. They may be 
said to occupy most of Southeastern Siberia. Of the tribes of 
Siberia ihey are among the most independent and hardy, and 
for centuries gave China no end of trouble; a branch of their race, in 
fact, are rulers of that great empire. A thousand years before Christ's 
time these people, whom the Chinese called Tunghoo (Eastern bar- 
barians), were living in the forests and mountains north of the Celestial 
Empire, feeding and eating their swine; greasing their bodies in winter, 
the better to repel the severe cold; in summer going virtually naked; 
covering themselves with hogs' skins when forced to wear a little 
clothing, dwelling in subterranean caverns, deep or shallow, according 
to the standing of the dweller as a member of the tribe; stamping with 
their feet upon the meat to make it tender, and sitting upon it to thaw it 
out; burying their dead at once, and sacrificing a hog to the manes; or 
using the corpses as a bait for martens, thus gathering many soft and 
beautiful furs — a terror to their savage neighbors, and a menace even to 
the Empire of China. 

In the Tchuktchis and the Koriaks, who hold the extreme north- 
eastern regions of Siberia against all efforts of the Russians either to 
subdue or dislodge them, we find the vanguard of that people which is 
scattered along the Asiatic and North American coasts for a distance 
of nearly six thousand miles, the most widely extended nation in the 
world. The Asiatic tribes appear to have in their constitutions far more 
of the fierce blood of Tartary than the kindred people across the straits, 
and it requires no great stretch of the imagination to understand how, 
from their ancestors might have sprung the father of the North Ameri- 
can savage. 

Ethnologists have even attempted to trace a similarity in some of 
their present customs with those of the North American Indian, instanc- 
ing their remarkable proficiency in the use of the bow and arrow (com- 
mon also to the ancient Tungooses); the shaving of the head, punctur- 

263 



264 THE world's fair. 

ing of the body and the wearing of huge earrings. They are tall, 
vigorous and athletic, and their lower limbs are not so short as those of 
the North American Esquimaux. Impatient of restraint, bold and self- 
reliant, they wander over their country's wilds with their great herds of 
reindeer; now stopping to give them welcome pasturage and pitching 




WINTER ANU SUMMER HUTS. 

their circular tents on the steppes ; now braving the howling storm from 
the Arctic seas, and the famished Arctic wolves who furiously cast their 
shadowy forms into the midst of their terrified herds ; or creeping into 
their tents, covered with reindeer skins fastened together with long 
thongs of seal or walrus hide, they crawl into their pologs, or tightly- 
sewed compartments, and breathing the fumes from the flaming moss 
and oil of their wooden lamps and from the large fire which is throwing 
forth as much smoke as heat, they enjoy the howling winds outside, and 
proceed to sleep the hours away. 

EACH MAN HIS OWN MASTER. 
So far as can be learned, these people have no laws, no institutions, 
no acknowledged leaders. They sometimes club together for mutual 
protection and convenience and are temporarily guided, as to their route 
of travel, by an esteemed member of the community, but if they are 
unable to agree, the company breaks up and each man, taking his wives, 



EACH MAN HIS OWN MASTER. 



265 



man among 



reindeer and baggages pursues his separate way. Each 
them is as good as another. 

Rank or caste is unknown, and the ingenious Shaman is put to his 
best tricks to overawe them. Although they sacrifice dogs, they have 
few superstitions compared to the majority of the pagan tribes of Siberia. 
One of their most singular customs, or superstitions — or call it what you 
will — is that which makes it an actual impossibility to obtain from them 
a live reindeer. They are passionately fond of liquor, especially of that 
produced from a species of toad-stool and called muk-a-mur. The 
natives can not cultivate it themselves, as the growth of the fungus 
requires a greater shade of timber than can be afforded by their barren 
steppes, and as its effects are so shattering to the system that its sale is 
made a penal offense by even Russian law, they find it very difficult to 

obtain the muk-a-mur. But for neither 
this drink nor for quantities of tobacco, 
of which also they are great lovers, was 
a Koriak or a Tchuktchis ever known to 
exchange a live reindeer ; once killed, 
however, the most insignificant trinket will 
tempt him. This feeling is on a par with 
that which is evinced by the Tungoose, 
further south, who would almost starve to 
death rather than kill a tame reindeer for 
food. 

The people who are settled along the 
shores of the ocean support themselves 
chiefly by killing whales,seals and walruses. 
As to their amusements they are 
narrowed down to trials of skill with the 
bow and arrow, wrestling bouts and marriages. The young Koriak 
Avho has soft designs upon a maiden must serve her father a 
number of years, chopping the gnarled cedar from the frozen ground 
and cutting it into firewood, watching his herds of reindeer, making 
sledges, hunting and doing anything to make life more easy and pros- 
perous for the head of the family. Then he is summoned to learn his 
fate and undergo a barbarous ordeal. He and his intended are brought 
to a large tent containing many apartments, or pologs, ranged round it 
inside. In the center is a fire, around which are a number of men and 
Avomen who are busily engaged over such delicacies as marrow, frozen 
tallow, etc., and in a lively discussion of the probable outcome of the 
trial. They cease their eating, drinking and jabbering, at the regular 




TCHUKTCHIS CHILDREN. 



266 THE world's FAIR. 

beating of a large bass drum, and the tall master of ceremonies enters 
with an armful of willow switches which he proceeds to distribute in all 
the pologs. The music continues, it being varied by a wild chant sung 
by the drummer, when the curtains of the pologs are thrown up and 
the women divide their forces so as to guard the entrance of each. 
The musician now redoubles his exertions, and the men, who remain 
around the fire, take up the chant and work themselves into a state of 
wild excitement over whatever is to come. 

The master of ceremonies gives a signal, and the girl, who is the 
center of attraction, raises the curtain of the first polog and passes in ; 
reappears almost immediately, and raises the curtain of the next, and 
so on around the tent, working in and out like an angleworm. But the 
eager young Koriak does not have so easy a passage around, for the 
women who have been stationed at the curtains of the tents do every- 
thing they can to impede his progress — tripping him up and smothering 
him in the curtains and beating him with the switches. The drum is 
booming, the men are shouting, and the women screaming, as the dark- 
faced girl dashes round the tent followed by her luckless wight. She 
at last brings up in the last polog and all eyes are strained to see if she 
lifts the curtain and emerges, for if she does, that poor young man is 
a discarded lover. But all is still as he plunges madly on, and amid 
shouts of laughter and applause rejoins his bride, breathless but happy. 

If, in generations to come, the descendants of this young Koriak 
couple, or the children of those Tchuktchis children should be found in 
North America, their personal appearance will be found to be similar, 
although they will have acquired many habits and beliefs which develop 
from climate, experience, soil, mountains, seas — in fact, from anj'thing 
capable of producing a strong impression upon an ignorant but observing 
nature. They will retain faint memories of their Asiatic origin, which, 
as they descend from father to son and from mother to daughter and 
become weakened as they spread from tribe to tribe, will be designated 
by the more lofty title of traditio'\ 

Singular to relate, this is what has actually happened. The tradi- 
tions of all the great American tribes of Indians, such as the Iroquois, 
the Algonquins and the Choctaws point to an Asiatic origin. Among 
the Hyperboreans of Asia there are several tribes, now nearly extinct, 
which have quite disappeared from history, leaving behind only mounds 
of earth along the banks of Siberian rivers, in which are buried the 
bows, arrows and spears of the lost peoples. Pressed north and east 
by hordes of Tartars and Mongols, there was nothing for them to do 
but to venture across the strait and see what lay beyond. 



OUR FAR-EAST COUSINS. 




PERHAPS OUR FOREFATHERS, TOO. 

OURING through a narrow mountain gorge into the broad 
plains of Mesopotamia, the River Euphrates was once the 
patron of a most ancient, energetic and splendid civihzation. 
With the Tigris, it is now the boundary of a proHfic land of 
decay. From those plains once poured forth vast floods of 
people and yet those left behind were the founders of glo- 
rious empires, the builders of Nineveh and Babylon. These 
mighty capitals are now little more than unsightly mounds 
of clay and sun-dried brick, among which dirty Arabs are 
delving for the building material of modern houses. From 
near the ruins of Babylon looms up a gigantic mound, standing 
alone in the midst of a vast plain — the tower of Babel ! you recog- 
nize it at once. Other mounds of lesser note, now scattered, now 
grouped, now in the form of triangles; shafts of columns; Assyrian 
forts; rocks crowned with ancient castles; old towns filled with Roman 
and Saracenic architecture ; groves of palm trees ; clouds of scorch- 
ing sand borne by the south winds; decaying walls of gigantic canals, 
vainly appealing to Turkish " enterprise , " a tribe of restless Arabs 
with their camels, horses, sheep and women, their crude furniture 
and all their effects, seeking fresh pasture ; answering sheets of 
flame rising from the fertile river tracts and springing from the hatred 
of the harvesters who have gathered their grain and are burning all 
green forage to keep it from those same thievish Arabs; a wandering 
dervish, only interrupting his prayers to light his pipe, asks for gifts from 
the faithful, or to search for vermin, the sound of an Arab water-wheel 
in the distance; a Turkish fortress perched upon a storm-beaten mound 
inclosing the ruins of centuries; narrow roads hanging to the mountain 
sides and dropping to the plain below; gorgeous mountain tints painted 
by a bold eastern sun and flung upon the background of a soft eastern 
sky; a valley in which nestles a village where Noah is said to have planted 
his vineyard; a dyke built by Nimrod, the mighty hunter; a griffin's 

267 



268 THE world's FAIR. 

cave, at the mouth of which the Tigris roars and foams — such is the 
country in which rose and fell the oldest known civilization of the 
world. 

Leaving the Euphrates river we enter the Syrian desert, and mid- 
way between the great river and the Mediterranean sea, in a small oasis, 
find the famed ruins of Palmyra; the " Tadmor in the Desert." Across 
to Baalbek — grand ruins again ! The omnipresent Arab is there also, 
as at Palmyra, sheltered by his crazy hut and raising his corn and olives 
among the ruins. Striking south, we are still oppressed by ruins — some 
thirty of them — before we skirt the coast of the Dead Sea, and cross a 
desert tract of country and the Suez canal into the land of pyramids. 
What more natural than that we should journey from the land of ancient 
Assyria to the land of Egypt; for we are following in the footsteps of 
the races and families of men, and the ancient Egyptians are supposed 
to have preceded us in that little trip, overland, by some thousands of 
years. 

EGYPT. 

Straight toward the Mediterranean sea a black line shoots across 
the desert waste, binding together a chain of lakes and lagoons, and 
marking the threshold to the land of shadows and sunshine. Another 
line winds toward Cairo, and still another seems to shoot more directly 
and with more momentum toward that great emporium to which our 
journey lies. In the ship canal constructed for the commerce of the 
world, and in the fresh-water canal built for the convenience of the 
isthmus inhabitants, are repeated the performances of the ancient 
Egyptians and Persians, accomplished before the wild Scythians ever 
dreamed of crossing the Bosphorus and laying the foundation of the 
most advanced of European civilization. Traces of that first canal are 
found deep in the desert sand of the isthmus country, where Egypt's 
frontier was threatened by those same savage tribes who now appear as 
Frenchmen, as Englishmen, as Germans, as representatives of nations 
which have sprung from the decay of the old. Here were her fortresses 
and from the banks of the Nile came fresh water, provisions and rein- 
forcements, if necessary, to the defenders of the civilization of those 
days ; and Persia had her ship canal from sea to sea ; but it was left to 
these days to shoot the railroad across the desert into the very haunts 
of antiquity, into the very shadows of the Pyramids. But we 
pass them by, and the splendid mosques of Cairo, and the tombs 
of its rulers, and the beautiful villas in the suburbs, and ancient 




AN EG'VP'llAN TEMPLE 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



glory, and present attempts at magnificence, and go into the 
" by-ways and hedges " to get acquainted with the people. We will 
have nothing to do with the Turk, for he is not a native ; although he 
has imposed many of his customs among the Egyptians. We shall 
avoid the Italians, French, English, Armenians and other nationalities 
who live in the "Frank" quarter of Cairo and Alexandria, and who 




A COPT, 

are traveling up and down the Nile countr)', viewing curiosities, traffic- 
ing in precious stones, or awaiting the return of the pilgrims from Mecca 
laden with the wealth of the far East , who are the agents of commer- 
cial houses in their native lands, or the principals themselves in this 
central station of the overland route to India. For the present we 



EGYPT 271 

have no interest in these people, except in so far as they have relations 
to a very intelligent, courteous, industrious and humble class of the 
Eo-yptians, the Copts. They number about one-fifteenth of the entire 
population of the country, and are the sole remnant of the ancient 
Egyptians. In Lower Egypt they are of a yellowish tinge, which shades 
into a dark brown further south. The Copts inhabit small sections of 
the larger cities, while in Upper Egypt they have settled whole towns 
and villages. What is their business ? They are clerks and account- 
ants in government and mercantile offices ; they are the Christian priests 
of Egypt, cheerful, humane and hospitable, with their convents and 
monasteries scattered along the Nile. They are the scribes, priests and 
scholars of Egypt, and an ink-horn at the girdle (for they wear the 
turban and flowing robe) is a masculine badge, as is the cross, tattooed 
upon the hand of the Copt woman, her mark of honor. The Coptic 
priesthood have considerably lapsed from the rigor of their religious 
observances as primitive Christians, although in the regular monasteries 
their discipline is still severe. The dress is a simple skirt of coarse 
woolen fabric. Only on feast days are small quantities of animal food 
allowed, the ordinary food being black bread and lentils. The convents, 
when not situated on some inaccessible rock, are surrounded by a high 
and strong wall which has only a single iron door, and in some cases is 
wholly without opening, the means of entrance being a pulley from the 
top. 

The religious rites of the Copt are many and severe, the services 
lasting many hours at a time. Seven times daily he repeats his Pater 
Nosier, and begs for Divine mercy forty-one. The churches are deco- 
rated with ornaments of ostrich eggs and divided into four compart- 
ments. Furthest from the doorway is the chancel, or sanctuary, where 
the eucharist is celebrated, and which is hidden behind a high screen. 
Next is the room where the priests interpret in Arabic the Coptic 
service to the singers, the leading men of the congregation and to 
strangers. In the third compartment are the men of the congregation, 
moving round in their bare feet to pray before the pictures of the saints, 
or leaning upon long crutches for support. The veiled women occupy 
the fourth room, which is dimly lighted, and usually situated in the 
extreme rear of the church. 

The domestic life of the Copts is very similar to that of the Arabs 
who have settled along the Nile. They have adopted also many of the 
Moslem customs, such as the veiling of the faces of many of their 
women. Some Coptic women are allowed to go out from time to tim.e 
and even to visit and shop pretty freely. Others, again, are as closely 



THE world's fair. 



secluded as if they were actual denizens of a harem. Nearly all keep 
black female slaves instead of hiring- servants. 

There are some peculiarities in the Coptic marriage ceremony. 



-^-2^2..^:=^ 




EGYPTIAN ORNAMENTS. 



however. The bride, unlike the Moslem, has no canopy to cover her 
in the procession to the bridegroom's house. At the preliminary feast. 



THE NILE AND EGYPT, 273 

pigeons are released from pies and fly around the room shaking bells 
attached to their feet. After the marriage ceremony, the priests set on 
the foreheads of the new couple thin gilt diadems. In entering her 
husband's house, the bride must step over the blood of a newly killed 
lamb. The whole pageant, after lasting eight days, ends with a grand 
feast at the bridegroom's house. This is the custom, of course, among 
the well-to-do classes, but certainly would not prevail in the hut of a 
poor chicken hatcher or fellah (farmer). But we shall soon be among 
these poor swarthy sons of the Nile and it will become evident that they 
could not be the originators of pageants and feasts of superlative 
grandeur. 

THE NILE AND EGYPT. 

It is impossible for the humblest Egyptian to omit the Nile as an 
element in his life ; for in her bosom lie life and death. Food, drink 
and clothing spring from her brooding over the soil. " May Allah bless 
thee as he blessed the course of the Nile ! " exclaims the poor woman 
on its banks to the traveler. " Mohammed would not have gone to 
Paradise had he drunk of the Nile," says an Arabian proverb. She 
seems a living, moving thing — either a benefactor or a monster ; her 
benefactions, generally, make her the power for good in Egypt and an 
all-pervading influence of blessedness. A few days in the spring and 
fall she rests from her labors. Then the tributaries from the mountains 
and table-lands of Abyssinia and from the recesses of Central Africa 
commence to trickle into her mighty channel and the great event, older 
than the pyramids and yet ever momentous, is soon recorded in Cairo. 
Across a branch of the river, near the metropolis, is a small island, in 
which is sunk a square wall or chamber. In the center of this chamber 
is a graduated pillar divided into cubits of about twenty-two inches each. 
Sometime in June the water commences to rise in the pillar, or nilo- 
meter, and Egyptian life again hangs upon the pleasure of old mother 
Nile. Every morning four official criers proclaim throughout Cairo the 
height to which the water has risen. When the sixteenth cubit is 
reached, it is quite certain that there will be a harvest and the Sultan's 
land tax is levied — what portion of it is collected from the shrewd natives 
is another thing. While the water line is creeping between the six- 
teenth and the eighteenth cubits, Cairo and Egypt are breathless with 
interest and anxiety. A straggling street runs from the city down to 
Fostat, its suburb and port. From Fostat a canal of irrigation runs 
through Cairo and is continued some miles beyond. It is believed to 



274 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



form part of an ancient canal, traces of which we found in the desert 
sands toward Suez. As the water hne in the nilometer rises toward the 
eighteenth cubit, this becomes a locahty of supreme interest. The talk 
even among the counting houses and government offices ; among the 
Europeans with their Coptic clerks ; in the public gardens haunted by 
French and German strollers ; in the bazaars filled with the goods and 
nationalities of the East ; around the mosques in the city, and the cof- 
fee booths and fairs in the suburbs ; among the serpent charmers and 
story tellers — the talk of Cairo itself is plentifully interspersed with refer- 




// 



A JEW OF CAIRO. 

ences to the probable outcome of the rise. Famine has already been 
averted, and the Sultan has his tax — on paper. It now remains to be 
seen whether the Nile will come up to the standard of abundance which 
is marked on the fascinating nilometer by the eighteenth cubit, and 
which determines whether the pacha shall cut the banks which confine 
the waters and lead it into this grand canal, and thence into six thousand 
other artificial channels and reservoirs scattered throughout the region. 
Millions of anxious fellaheen and Copts, and wandering bands of Bedou- 



THE NILE AND EGYPT. 275 

ins and gypsies, are at the same time casting anxious eyes upon the 
broad, swelling bosom of the Nile, or, remembering her as generally 
kind, already see her muddy waters depositing their magic loam upon 
the parched land, and the fruits and grains of the world springing into 
green life. Bounty or famine depends upon what has been going on in 
the far-away regions of Central Africa and the mountains of Abyssinia. 

Is"ature has been good, and the rains have fallen which bring the 
waters of the Nile up to the eighteenth cubit of the nilometer. The 
command is given by the authorities of Cairo. The pacha, attended by 
his grandees, cuts the confining mounds, and another harvest and season 
of plenty is assured. All classes now flock to the river side and, it may 
be, the whole night is spent in festivity. Like scenes of jubilee occur 
for hundreds of miles along the banks of the god-like river. Between 
September 20 and 30 the river is at its greatest height, remains stationary 
for about fifteen days and then usually commences to fall. Should the 
waters rise above twenty-four feet then the river ceases to be a "good 
Nile," and woe be to the little villages which lie in the level strip along 
her banks should she go far above that point. The whole valley of the 
Nile is now a vast lake, and as the inundated country at length appears 
it is seen to be covered with a. layer of rich loam, averaging not more 
than one-twentieth of an inch. The strip fertilized is only two or three 
miles in breadth, but the soil, thus annually replenished, has filled the 
granaries of eastern and western kingdoms, and as long as the Nile does 
her duty, cannot be impoverished. When the waters recede, vegetation 
springs up, crisp and green. The beautiful date palms, which are so 
sympathetic, look brighter and more martial as they rise from the river 
side or protectingly group themselves around little hamlets or villages. 
The sturdy peasant, or fellah, comes from his mud hut and casts his 
wheat and barley upon the loam. Later, he drives his sheep, goats and 
oxen upon the "sown" grain to trample it in. In some places plough- 
ing is thought necessary, but is usually dispensed with. Beans, peas, 
lentils, clover, flax, lettuce, hemp, tobacco and water-melons go through 
with much the same process, and yet the fellah confidently expects, from 
past experience, to harvest good crops within three or four months. In 
summer, chiefly by artificial irrigation, maize, onions, sugar cane, cotton, 
coffee, indigo and madder are brought from the bountiful soil, and tem- 
perate and tropical fruits vie with one another in lusciousness. 

April, the great harvest month, sees the fields of Egypt white with 
barley and golden with wheat. Later appear the tiny green oranges, 
which do not mature for six months. Then the corn, which crackles 
with dryness as it is heaped upon the camels, is carried off to be 




A BEDOUTN CHIEF. 



THE FELLAHEEN. 277 

threshed. Seated in his wooden chair the peasant drives his rude cart 
round and round over the grain. Some of the weahhy land owners have 
introduced modern threshing machines, but this primitive object is still 
as familiar a sight as the poor fellah who has abandoned his desert for 
the garden spots of Egypt. His wants are few, however, — " a draught 
of Nile water, a handful of lentils, or a piece of bread made like a pan- 
cake and tough as wash-leather" — and, since fuel costs nothing, he gets 
along very well. He has also various crude devices for irrigating his 
land. A large wheel may be run out into the river and, with its hollow 
paddles, turned by the current. The water is thus caught up and 
emptied into a trench or tank on the bank. Or our Egyptian farmer 
may call the creaking "sakieh" into service — -a series of cogwheels 
brought to bear upon an endless string of leathern vessels which empty 
their contents into a pool. Over the wheels is a thatched roof, and 
under the roof camels or buffaloes are plodding around a beaten path. 

Thus is revealed the motive power. From the pool the water is car- 
ried off on its refreshing errand by a wooden shaft. Ruder, but more 
common than these quite-mechanical contrivances is an elevating 
machine consisting of a long pole working on a pivot, a lump of clay or a 
stone at one end and a bucket at the other, the whole arrangement being 
fastened to a simple framework of logs. Thousands of these "re-formed" 
Arabs — naked or half-naked men, women and children — virtually spend 
their lives before their "shadoof" in dipping water from the Nile to irri- 
ga.'i^ the fields. The water which is thus poured into trenches on the 
bank runs into small channels or ridges of earth which divide the land 
into squares. The cultivator uses his feet to regulate the flow of water 
to each part. By a dexterous movement of his toes, he forms a tiny 
embankment in one of the trenches, or removes the obstruction, or makes 
an aperture in one of the ridges, or closes it up again, as the condition of 
the crop requires. After all his labor when the grain is about ready to 
be harvested the vast flocks of geese, wild duck, hawks, pigeons, and 
cranes which darken the sky, may threaten a complete destruction of 
the crop. At these times, instead of scarecrows, the fellaheen place 
small stands or platforms in the fields, from which young boys armed 
with slings do wonderful execution. 

THE FELLAHEEN. 

Next to the birds, the greatest enemies of the fellaheen are the tax 
collectors, who do not hesitate to vigorously apply the stick when they 
find an unusually stubborn subject; and after the application of such 



278 THE world's fair. 

forcible arguments, if he still refuses to disgorge the coin which is clearly 
due the Sultan, as provqn by the nilometer's record, his wife and his 
neighbors exalt him as a hero and a patriot. Their many tricks to evade 
the dues, which trickery they consider one of the paramount duties of 
life, are illustrative of their many-sided characters. Some years ago the 
tax upon country produce brought into cities was so increased as to be 
really a burden upon our rural friends. At the station where two coun- 
try roads meet, a poor fellah would be seen dancing about "hopping 
mad," because he had been forced to pay more than he expected, or had 
been caught at some of his evasive tricks. But after swearing and lament- 
ing in his native tongue, he would re-load his ass, throw off all his 
burdens of spirit and proceed with as unruffled a countenance as though 
every tax fiend in Egypt had started for Constantinople. Occasionally, 
however, they do escape the sharp-eyed officials, though this is not the 
case in the following instance. A funeral procession enters the city by 
the chief country road, the chanting mollahs (religious doctors) walking 
behind, accompanied by men carrying the cofifin with a red shawl over it, 
as is the usual custom. But the official scents something in the wind 
which is not a badly preserved corpse, and orders a halt and an investiga- 
tion. The coffin, which in the East is only covered with a pall, is found 
to be filled with cheese ! If the cheese had been a corpse it would have 
entered the city free of duty. Neither are the fellaheen always honest in 
their dealings with private parties. A traveler tells the story that he 
once observed a large heap of little clay balls on the banks of the Nile 
which, evidently, were not formed by nature. He asked a fellah who 
stood near what they were for, as there were two or three such heaps. 
"Oh," he coolly replied, "they are for mixing with corn. Many boats 
laden with corn stop here." A boatman added that the village was 
famous for a peculiar kind of clay, of a corn color, but weighing heavier 
than the grain. 

As a rule, however, the fellaheen, who comprise four-fifths of the 
Egyptian population, are honest, lazy, patient, merry and domestic. 
They are the brawn of Egypt and cling jealously to her most ancient 
customs, strenuously opposing the introduction of implements of modern 
invention even when the attempt is made by their Turkish masters. 
The men average five feet eight inches in height, and have broad chests, 
muscular limbs and generally black, piercing eyes, straight thick noses, 
large but well-formed mouths, full lips, beautiful teeth and fine, oval faces. 
Their dress rarely consists of more than a shirt, leaving bare the arms, 
legs and breast. The distinctive garb of the fellaha, or peasant'swife, is 
the dark-blue cotton and black muslin veil. In the towns many wear 



THEIR WIVES. 279 

prints ot various colors for trousers, and for the short waistcoat without 
sleeves, which is worn in winter as an additional garment. The favorite 
hues are orange, pink and yellow, or magenta crimson. The older 
women, even among quite poor people, frequently dye their grey locks 
a tawny orange color. When we speak of the "older women '' we mean 
those far this side of thirty. From twelve — the usual age of marriage — 
to eighteen or nineteen nearly all the women are splendidly formed 
and many of them are real beauties but aftei that they rapidly wither. 

THEIR WIVES. 

Having introduced the fellah and spoken of his occupation and dis- 
position, it is no more than just that we should do the same for his wife. 
While he is abroad tending his cattle or sheep, looking after his crops, 
selling fodder, fruit, milk or vegetables, or looking after the irrigation of 
his land, we shall enter his home, meet his wife and family, and see how 
and where they live. 

The houses of the fellaheen are all of the same general type, the 
wealthier of them, of course, living in a large mud "mansion" instead 
of occupying one about four feet in height. The well-to-do may have 
carpets and mattresses, little coffee cups and some brass cooking vessels 
instead of a sleeping mat, a water jug and a few rude kitchen utensils ; 
and their daily bill of fare may include more items than coarse bread and 
onions, cheese, dates, beans and rice. In some of the houses of the 
more pretentious peasants there is a separate apartment, called " hareem," 
for the women ; but it is usually dirty and disorderly and a pitiful par- 
ody upon the magnificence of its Moslem prototype. The wife of the 
rich fellah displays gold ornaments, a brocaded silk vest, a black muslin 
veil and, on special occasions, trousers; the poor fellaha has her silver 
bracelets and her dark cotton garments, often thin and ragged. 

As soon as it is light the poor woman gets up from her mat, spread 
in the low one-room hut, and shakes herself ; or, if the weather is hot, 
she has been sleeping outside, with her family. . Having thus completed 
her toilet, she and her husband and children gather round a small earthen 
dish containing boiled beans and oil, pickles or chopped herbs, green 
onions or carrots. Possibly the family do not go to all this trouble, but 
each takes what pleases him, when he likes, the substantial part of the 
food being a coarse kind of bread in which is mixed some most bitter 
seeds which seem to immensely tickle the palate of the average Egyp- 
tian. The father now, in all probabilit)', goes to his work, and the 
mother, if she has none to do, wanders away to gossip with the neigh- 



THEIR WIVES. 



281 



bors, leaving the children to roll in the dust or otherwise shift for them- 
selves. If she has no neighbors and lives in the country, she may go off 
with her husband and the children to assist him in drawing water to irri- 
gate their land. If it is baking day, or she has some other simple 
household duty to perform, she deposits her infant (in appearance a heap 
of dirty rags) upon the first spot which strikes her^- 
eyes, when the idea comes to her. It may be on U(<^ 
a heap of rubbish, with the sun beating down v 
upon it or the flies swarming over it. If she is a 
country fellaha working with her husband, the 
infant may go down in the mud. Should she be 
eating an onion, or a pickle, or a raw carrot, and 
the baby cries- — and has teeth — she will, as likely 
as not, fill its little mouth with whatever she is 
enjoying. But bread-making day has really arrived, 
and approaching the windowless mud-hut, with 
its wooden door and huge wooden key, we find 
that the woman has brought the strength of the 
whole family to bear upon her task. Perhaps the 
smaller children and an old grandmother are pick- 
ing and cleaning the corn, the older boys or the 
father carr}dng it off to be ground and bringing 
back the flour. A grown daughter or a sister is 
sifting the flour and with the fellaha's assistance 
mixing the leaven, working up the dough and shap- 
ing it into round cakes. These are then baked in 
the mud oven of the hut, or, if the fellaha lives in 
a village, the batch may be taken to the public 
oven. 

When evening comes a pretense is usually 
made to unite the family. They sit in a circle, often 
on the ground • — - mother, father, children, sister 
and grandmother — and dip their cakes of bread 
into a vegetable mess before them, contained in a 
coarse earthen pan. They eat in comparative 
silence, often, and when each is satisfied he gets Egyptian vase 

up and goes away. Sometimes the man eats alone, or with his sons ; and 
the women finish the bowl. But this practice obtains only amono- those 
upon whom the Moslem customs have a strong hold. If the fellah fam- 
ily, in whose house we visit, is above the average in respectability, after 
supper is finished, wife, daughter or slave brings in a basin and pours water 




EGYPTIAN SCHOOLS. 



283 



over the hands. Whether the family sleep indoors or out, depends, 
principally, upon the season of the )ear. But let them sleep, for the 
present, wherever they are and whoever they are — whether the Mos- 
lem who has gone through with his evening devotions on a carpet 
spread on the ground, or the Coptic Christian who has said his prayers 
and counted his beads forty and one times during the day. 

EGYPTIAN SCHOOLS. 



In many of the villages along the Nile, Moslem and Copt dwell in 
comparative peace, the men working together in the fields and their 
children attending the same school, when one has been established in a 
rural district by some European missionary. The boys, however, far 

outnumber the girls, from the fact that 
maidens are more useful at home than their 
brothers ; that they are called away from 
school before they have made much prog- 
ress, to become wives, and 'that Moslem 
Egyptians are generally imbued with the 
Turkish indifference to female educa- 
tion and advancement. The little girls 
attend in loose frocks called " gellebeehs," 
I with m.uslin or gauze veils, slippers in 
winter, and in summer wooden clogs 
which are kicked off when they seat them- 
selves. In the native schools little is 
taught besides the Koran and the merest 
elements of arithmetic. Though the 
school-master may be blind, if he can 
repeat the Moslem bible without stum- 
bling, the permanency of his position is 
AN EGYPTIAN CHAIR assured. The school is generally attached 

to the village mosque, which is built of mud with a white-washed spire. 
Its locahty can be ascertained beyond a doubt by the tremendous hub- 
bub which always proceeds from a Moslem school ; for all those who are 
learning to read are sitting upon the ground with the school-master, vig- 
orously rocking their bodies back and forth, and reciting their lessons 
from their wooden tablets and at the top of their voices. Before the 
older pupils, on little desks made of palm sticks, are copies of the Koran 
or some of its thirty sections. They also are going through with the 
same form of gymnastics, which is thought to be an aid to the memory. 




284 THE world's fair. 

In the small towns and villages the masters of the schools are nearly 
as ignorant as the pupils, but manage by their native shrewdness to hide 
their lack of learning. Naturally the " salary " is a mere nothing But 
in Cairo, where the course of instruction is somewhat broader, the 
remuneration to the school-master is correspondingly greater ; from the 
parent of each pupil there is sent to him, every Thursday, what would 
be equivalent to three cents. The master of a school attached to a 
mosque or public building, in Cairo, also receives yearly a piece of white 
muslin for a turban, a piece of linen and a pair of shoes. Each 
boy receives, at the same time, a linen skull cap, eight or nine yards 
of cotton cloth, half a piece of linen, a pair of shoes, and in some 
cases from three to six cents. These presents are supplied by funds 
bequeathed to the school. Although several Sultans of enlightened 
views have attempted to reform the cause of education in Egypt, they 
have found it a graceless task, the prejudice and ignorance of the bulk 
of the population being as firmly set against any innovation here as they 
are in the field of agriculture. So the boy continues to shout his les- 
sons, and the poor Httle maiden is often not allowed, to know much of 
her Koran, for, when a mere child, she is hurried away from home to 
wed somebody whom, perchance, she has never seen. In a few short 
years, when she begins to fade, she fails to understand the cause of the 
great rejoicing which then took place ; or of the bright-hued procession 
which followed her red silk canopy, under which she herself walked cov- 
ered from head to foot with a large red shawl ; or why discordant bands 
of music and sweetly tinkling singers should do their best to celebrate 
the event, as if her world did not know that marriage was the stepping- 
stone to dismial, neglected old age. 

GLIDING UP THE NILE. 

In this general view of the customs, dispositions and daily life of the 
Copts and fellaheen, who really are the two components of the modern 
Egyptians, we have failed to even touch upon salient points, which 
to omit, would leave the picture of the Land of the Nile and 
its people incomplete and colorless. We have got acquainted with 
some of the people, so that they do not seem like strangers to us, and 
now must just skim the surface of their mysterious country — another 
land of decay — stopping at a point or two which is typical of their 
modern institutions. As you pass through the delta of the Nile, the 
flocks of pelican, wild duck and other fowl make the waters hum and 
you might imagine, if it were not for that narrow strip of desert, that you 



GLIDING UP THE NILE. 285 

had by mistake wandered into the State of Louisiana, The tremendous 
fields of grain which, in season, would be stretching down to the river's 
edge for three miles on either hand, would also soon dispel the illusion 
caused by the presence of these myriads of water fowl. Alexandria, 
a strange combination of decay and life, being left behind, the fertile 
strip of country grows quite narrow as Cairo comes into view — Cairo, 
with its dark and gloomy streets, its great mosques and its seven miles 
of area which is the focal point of three distinct civilizations. The 
slaves of Africa, the spices and fabrics of the East and the gold of 
Europe are all cast into Cairo, and a tremendous jumble of English- 
men and Germans, French and Americans, Arabs, Copts, Armenians, 
camels, asses, dogs, funeral and marriage processions, bazaars, veiled 
women, Turks, caravans and noise is the result. Opposite to Cairo, and 
extending along a slope to the river, are the sixty pyramids ; the ravages 
of time, and the depredations of Arab builders for ages, having given 
some of them a somewhat irregular outline as they stand up against the 
clear sky in their gloomy grandeur. 

The mountains now approach nearer to the river than they did in 
Lower Egypt, and over the desert a picturesque group of Bedouins are 
wandering. They have been brought into subjection by rigorous 
governmental treatment, but still proudly cling to their nomadic ways 
notwithstanding their race has been abandoned by so many tribes who 
have settled down into the drudgery of partial civilization. They are 
therefore harmless to travelers. They are dressed in clothes of camel's 
hair, with girdles of leather, and their wives wear the dark cotton robe of 
the fellaha, with an additional veil of crimson or white crape. Entering 
the river's fertile strip the Arab band is seen to approach a cluster of 
mud huts, under a grove of palms, and connected with a farm. 
They talk with the bailiff in charge of the land and the fellaheen, 
and quickly pitch their tents beside the hut. They have returned 
to watch his crops and cattle, for they have been found trust- 
worthy before, although it is impossible to foretell when their 
thieving propensities will seize upon them. Wandering, like the 
Arab, through the pyramid section, we find that an opportunity is 
given them to rob us in genteel civilized fashion. The sheik of a tribe 
has founded his village at the foot of one of the pyramids and compla- 
cently levies his tribute upon curiosity seekers, who, under the hallucina- 
tion that they will be "conducted" are rushed up its sides at railroad 
speed, over steps of three or four feet In height, by his impetuous and 
•'lungless" Arabs. Still skirting along the Nile, or through Egypt, 
with its mid'days of white heat, its purple mountain shadows, its cold 




-ve.'^.c^^v.v. 



A YOUTH OF UPrER E(;YPT, 



GLIDING UP THE NILE. 287 

twilights and mellow " after-glows," its deserts and gardens, its hills 
pierced with pictured tombs, its bee boats stoppmg wherever the flowers 
bloom, its boatmen's chants heard with choruses and clappings of hands, 
its boats built as they were in the days of the Pharaohs with their trian- 
gular sails, its limestone pyramids and sandstone temples — while 
wonderful nature and human life cast themselves and their moods over 
this country of Egyptian, Grecian and Rom.an ruins — " our special artist" 
finds — what ? Another specimen village, and the Bedouins have actually 
so far ventured into the confines of civilization as to settle in it. The 
village, which is a short distance from the beach, is thickly sprinkled 
with palms. A plot near by is also covered with gum trees. The 
houses are of the vulgar mud, but the large herd of cattle in the vicinity 
and the rich ornaments worn by the women, who are grouped near the 
river bank, are sufficient evidences that the Bedouins have gained by 
changing their ways of living. If you had been inclined to visit the 
sheik of the village he would, perhaps, have spread a Persian carpet for 
you under the shade of one of these gum trees, and, in the presence 
of his chief men, would politely have inquired as to your goings and 
comings. His house is also open to you. But, it may be, you had 
better rest content w^ith seeing the outside of the village, especially it 
you have any valuables which you wish to retain. 

Let us now pass Siout, from which the Nubian caravans are departing, 
and to which some of our fellah acquaintances have journeyed to lay mat- 
ters before the governor of Central Egypt which are too momentous to 
be settled by any village authority. Let us pass the Christian town of 
Ekhmin, with its Coptic convent and its great ruins, and even the broad 
plain covered with the remains of fallen Thebes, her dark mountain 
tombs in the back-ground. All these wonders, of which you may read 
in hundreds of books and see them stand forth from thousands of bold 
engravings, are lightly skimmed over, only to enter a modest village 
beyond and see what is going on there. In Siout the governor may 
dispense justice as he pleases for all the Interest we take in his grand 
ways — but here is a village court-house ! It would correspond to our 
county court, several villages and towns bringing their legal affairs to it, 
and is crowded with handsome, sturdy peasants. At the door stand the 
keepers — two half-naked lads with long sticks. The room is small and 
approached by a narrow, dirty staircase. Many of the windows are 
broken, the panes being stuffed with rags or a ragged curtain to keep 
out the sun. At a number of inky, crazy-looking wooden desks in front, 
sit several scribes writing ; wdiile on a ragged divan, with soiled cushions, 
sit a dozen more, each with paper or inkhorn of brass in his girdle or his 



285 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

hand. Each head scribe chants out the contents of his paper in a 
sonorous, but not very loud tone of voice, to his assistant, who copies it 
The dinner hour having arrived, does the court adjourn ? That would 
hardly accord with the dignity of the Turkish judge. A lad brings into 
the court-room a tray, upon which are vegetaoles, bread, cheese and a 
watermelon ; whereupon the Court, with two of his assistants, calmly 
proceed to dip their bits of bread in the vegetable dishes and go through 
the whole course. Then, leisurely wiping their handS; they resume 
work. 

In the village, outside of the sleepy court-room, a lively scene is 
found in the shape of the weekly market. We see no booths, but each 
seller spreads his wares before him on little mats , cloth, wool, tobacco, 
butter, salt, curds, handkerchiefs, sugar, coffee, thread, etc., are displayed 
for sale. Veiled women, decorated according to their condition with 
colored glass or white shells, silver bracelets, golden coins or antique 
jewels, chat, examine and sometimes buy. Gentle Egyptian cattle wander 
about unmolested. The fellaha even appears as a ' sales-lady " beside 
her pile of egg-plants or gourds, and shrilly proclaims their virtues. A 
Bedouin chief even appears upon his strong horse, his saddle furnished 
with cases of pistols. Elderly peasants, in turbans of white or crimson 
sit in sunny spots, smoking and chatting over their bargains. All this 
animation and enjoyment and indolence are fondled by a bright Egyp- 
tian sun. These fairs are certainly a great institution of Egyptian 
peasant and village life. 

But adieu to the fair and to the village with its mud huts, some 
standing alone and some clustering around a common court-yard, some 
filled with vermin and others with chickens in all stages of artificial 
development ; to clerical, priestly Copt, to brawny, mercurial fellah, and 
to picturesque, thievish Bedouin. We are traveling into Upper Egypt 
where the valley of the Nile so contracts that the sandstone rocks over 
hang the water. From these rugged cliffs were quarried the huge stones 
which went into the building of the ruined monuments and temples of 
Upper Egypt and Nubia. Here is the home of the Copt and his villages 
are scattered all along the rocky banks, his convents often crowning a 
precipitous height or the ruins of some imposing structure. He and his 
priest chose these dreary dwelling places when their ways of living were 
more ascetic than they now are ; when the early Christians hid themselves 
in caves both from choice and from necessity ; but having once planted 
their feet in this rocky gorge the ties of kindred and the bonds of poverty 
have kept them there. With the roar of the cataracts in our ears we 
say good-bye to the land in which was born the tale of Atlantis, 





THE SYRIANS. 

HEN Greece was young and Rome was not born, Syria 
was a wealthy land, her coast cities being centers of a vast 
commerce and civilization. Tyre and the Phoenicians include 
her greatest features. Berytus, or Beyrout, was among her 
famous ports ; and although Sidon and Tyre have disappeared, 
and her ancient prominence has been dimmed by the ruth- 
less hands of many conquerors, the city bids fair to rise to 
eminence now that the Suez Canal is drawing the trade of 
two hemispheres through the Mediterranean Sea and the 
Persian Gulf. Nineveh and Babylon are fallen, but the 
Tigris, the Euphrates and the Jordan remain as possible arteries of 
trade, while all around is the country which the Turks say is " the 
odor of Paradise," the Hebrews, "a garden planted by God for the first 
man," and the Arabs, a land "where the mountains bear winter on their 
heads, autumn on their shoulders, spring in their bosoms, while summer 
is ever sleeping at their feet." 

Beyrout is the natural commercial port of Syria and was a great city 
of the Roman emperors. It was called the Nurse of the Law, for the 
Roman jurisprudence was ably taught in its schools. Portions of beau- 
tiful pavements and columns are still seen in its gardens and on the sea 
shore. It was destroyed in the Roman wars and rebuilt by Augustus, 
who still considered it a gem of his empire. It was from Beyrout, also, 
that the virgin was sent to the dragon, whom St. George slew about ten 
minutes' walk from the city. Out in the sea is Cyprus where the lovely 
goddess rose from the ocean. Spots of historic interest, better authenti- 
cated, are grouped all around. Tyre and Acre are on the coast. Opposite 
is Carmel, and a few hours away Nazareth, Mount Tabor and Genes- 
areth. The Druse and Maronite villages cover the mountains for many 
miles east and north of it. Twelve hours distant is Damascus, and 
Baalbek is forty miles away. 

The modern city is built upon the slope of a hill which overlooks 
the sea, having as a background the bold peaks of Mount Lebanon. 
Mulberry gardens, orange and citron groves, palms, mosques, light flat- 



290 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



hyacinths and gillyflc 



roofed houses painted in lively colors, terraces filled with flowers, blend 
into a charming picture. Its bazars are filled with goods of the East and 
the West, and Armenian, Druse, Maronite, Turk, Greek and Arab are 
all there or strolling along their favorite sea-shore walk. Besides being 
a commercial point of no mean standing the city is becoming quite a 
resort for tourists and invalids. Its citizens are wide-awake, metropoli- 
tan and always picturesque. The accompanying cut gives a good idea 
of their average appearance. 

The plain of Beyrout stretches out to the east, covered with every 
variety of foliage — the orange, date, fig, pine, — and sweet with 
and still beyond it is Mount Lebanon, cut 
up into deep ravines and charming valleys, 
the particular home of those mysterious peo- 
ple the Druses and Maronites. One of 
their mixed villages called Beit-Miry is a 
summer resort for many of the Europeans of 
Beyrout. Other villages, more distant, are 
frequently visited by tourists ; but those 
occupied by the Druses alone are not so 
often entered. 

THE DRUSES. 

In the northern and central portions of 
Syria are the Druses, who are supposed to 
be a conglomeration of Kurds, Persians and 
Arabians. They hold exclusive possession 
of about 120 villages and share 200 more 
A SYRIAN. with the Maronites. Among the mountains 

of the Lebanon a religion slowly grew, which, in the eleventh century, 
was personified in a caliph of Egypt, who proclaimed at Cairo that the 
spirit of God was incarnate in him. The new faith was not well 
received outside of Syria, and the caliph's confessor and one of his dis- 
ciples, a Persian, retired to the mountains and deserts of the Lebanon, 
and there established the religion which the Druses now profess. It is 
a strange combination of Judaism, Christianity and Mohammedism, 
but is founded upon the unusual basis of strict exclusiveness, separa- 
tion from heretics, veracity to each other only, and mutual protection 
and assistance. The unity of God is the great tenet of their faith. 
They call themselves, in fact. Unitarians. 

For eight hundred years they have retained a distinct religion and 
nationality, not seeking to extend their power, but to hold fast to that 




THE DRUSES. 



291 



which they have. They are, however, divided into two classes, those 
initiated into the mysteries of the faith and the uninitiated. The former 
are moral and abstain from all luxuries and personal adornments. The 
latter are free from all religious duties and are, if anything, prone to 
dress. Polygamy is unknown, and the general morality of the Druses 
is said to be above the average of eastern sects. The wife's rights are 
maintained. She can own personal property, chooses her own husband, 
and if divorced retains her half of the dower. 

The Druses have their princes, chiefs and common people. They 
pay a stated sum to the Sublime Porte, but are as nearly independent 
as any people who live in 
the empire. Their villages 
are usually placed at the 
entrances to passes, the 
houses rising tier upon tier, 
sometimes one village 
almost overlapping another, 
and the whole mountain 
side being covered with 
habitations and artificial 
gardens. Their churches 
are usually some distance 
away, jealously guarded 
from intrusion, and their 
ukkals (who are the 
initiated, or religious teach- 
ers) see to it that neither 
stranger nor infidel pene- 
trates the mysteries of their 
worship. The people are 
educated and industrious. 




VILLAGE OF SYRIA. 



simple in their habits and generally well 
The sheiks often labor with the common 
people, but sometimes live in state. Some of them are artisans, but the 
bulk of the population cultivate the mulberry, olive and vine upon the 
terraced hill-sides, and the women spin and weave at home. Silk is 
the chief manufacture. 

The Druses are divided into a number of tribes who are often at 
war with each other, but when danger threatens from without they unite 
under the leadership of the emir, or prince, and from their mountain 
homes bid defiance to the Sultan himself. Questions of peace and war 
are determined, in a way, by popular vote, the prince calling a general 



292 



assembly on some mountain height, in which every sheik and peasant of 
any standing is entitled to a voice. When war has been determined 
criers often ascend the summits of the mountains, shouting in a loud 
voice: "To war ! to war ! Take your guns. Take your pistols. Noble 
sheiks, mount your horses. Arm yourselves with lance and saber. Gather 
to-morrow at Dair el-Kamar (once their capital). Zeal of God ! Zeal of 
combat ! " 

The hardy peasants, with their muskets and little bags of flour, their 
legs bare, and wearing short coats, promptly assemble under their chosen 
leaders. They are skillful marksmen, intrepid when brought to close quar- 
ters, but fighting mostly from behind rocks and bushes, and trusting to 
their success in skillful ambuscades. 

The common dress of the men is a coarse black woolen cloak, with 
white stripes, thrown over a waistcoat, and loose, short trowsers of the 
same stuff, tied around the waist by a white 
or red linen sash. On the head is worn a 
flat, turnip-shaped turban. The women wear 
a coarse blue jacket and petticoat, without 
any stockings, and a sort of winding hood 
and veil, their hair being plaited and hang- 
ing down behind. 

The Druse women generally have fair 
complexions, dark blue eyes, long black hair 
and white teeth. The dress of those of 
high standing who have no religious scruples, 
as well as that of Maronite ladies, is very 
striking and elegant. The most prominent 
ornament is the tantoor, a conical tube of 
silver from a foot to two feet in length, 
secured to a pad on the head by two silken 
cords which hang down the back and termi- 
nate in large tassels or knobs of silver. It 
supports a long white veil, which falls over the shoulders or the face, as 
required. The tantoor is worn by only married women. Other items 
of dress are a silk pelisse, fringed with gold cord, over an embroidered 
silk vest, a rich shawl bound around the waist, a diadem of silver and 
gold, earrings and necklaces, loose silk trowsers and soft leather shoes. 
The life which they lead in the mountains gives thema vigor and anima- 
tion, which add to their natural charms of form and feature. 

The men marry at from sixteen to eighteen years of age and the 
women generally three or four years earlier. After the consent of the 




A DRUSE LADY. 



THE MARONITES. 293 

parents has been obtained and the dowry decided upon, the bride pre- 
sents her future husband with a dagger. With this he binds himself to 
protect her during hfe, if she prove a true wife to him. Should she 
prove unfaithful he sends her back to her father's house, and with her 
the dagger without the shield. She is tried for her offense by her father 
and brothers at her husband's house, and, if found guilty, one of the 
brothers usually acts as executioner. The tantoor and a lock of bloody 
hair are afterwards sent to the husband, as an evidence that the awful 
duty has been performed and the family dishonor wiped out with the 
deed. 

THE MARONITES. 

The Maronites, who dwell in the same district as the Druses, are 
Christians who have invariably supported the Roman Pontiff, and the 
patriarch of their church is subject to his confirmation. They were friends 
of the Crusaders, and, with the Druses, have always been enemies of the 
Mohammedans ; they both, however, have been so far reduced by the 
Porte as to pay tribute to a Turkish governor who resides at Dair el- 
Kamar. They have even had their bloody conflicts with the Druses, 
the difficulty between them having been that the Maronites were too tardy 
in fighting for their independenee to suit their more energetic neigh- 
bors. 

The villages which the Maronites solely occupy are chiefly situated 
in the country east of Tripoli and Tyre to the lake of Genesareth. 
They formerly held the entire chain of mountains from Antioch to Jeru- 
salem, and their homes were long the asylums of the Christians who were 
persecuted and driven away by the Saracens. Their ways of living are 
similar to those of the Druses. As with the latter, property is sacred 
among them. Their priests marry as in the early days of the Christian 
church, their dress being a black cossack, with a hood and leather girdle. 
The communion is celebrated by throwing the pieces of bread into the 
wine and feeding thern to the communicants with a spoon. Among the 
relics of barbarism which the Maronites have retained is that of retalia- 
tion — the custom by which the nearest relative of a murdered person is 
bound to avenge him. 

SMYRNA. 

Most of the nationalities and religions of Turkey are represented 
at Smyrna, on the western coast of Asia Minor and, perhaps, next to 
Constantinople, the most important commercial port of the empire. 
There are Greeks and Turks, Jews and Roman Catholics, Armenians 




294 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

and Americans. The city runs down the gentle slope of a hill to the 
water's edge, the Armenians living upon the lower ground, while be- 
tween them and the Turks is the Jewish 
quarter. Smyrna is the Christian city of the 
Ottoman Empire, and here reside Arch- 
bishops of the Greek, Armenian and Roman 
Catholic churches. 

THE HEBREWS AND JERUSALEM. 

The Hebrew, or Jew, is to be viewed 
merely as a native of Palestine, or as a pil- 
grim to the Holy Land and to Jerusalem. 
From all quarters of the globe the people 
of a great, and yet almost invisible, nation 
come to wail over their fallen state. Of 
ancient Jerusalem little remains. Warriors 
of Europe, Asia and Africa, and representa- 
tives of nearly every religion, have besieged 
AN OLD TURK. ^^^ devastated it, .and were it not for the 

mountains and valleys which are so associated with Christian remem- 
brances and surround it, the identity of 

the Holy City might almost be questioned. 
Within, are crumbling walls and dirty 

narrow streets, and various unsatisfactory 

reasons are adduced for fixing upon spots 

where were the scenes in the life of Christ 

with which the Christian is so familiar. 

Constantine, for example, is reported to 

have recovered the Holy Sepulcher, over 

which the pagans had heaped a mound of 

earth, and to have erected a basilica to mark 

the spot. But while the Christians were ban- 
ished from Jerusalem there is no evidence to 

show that the locality was allowed to be thus 

marked, or that the present Church of the 

Holy Sepulchre was erected therein. 

The site of Solomon's Temple, on the 

other hand, has been fixed with tolerable 

certainty as being to the east of the modern city, upon a ridge guarded 

by valleys on every side. Still further east is the Golden Gate, a 




THE HEBREWS AND JERUSALEM. 



!95 



double passage way, through which the Mohammedans are convinced 
that the King of the Christians may ride victoriously into Jerusalem. 
The gate is therefore walled up with solid masonry. 

Extending from one of the ruined walls of the Temple area is 
a remarkable series of piers upon which were arches, the remains of 
the bridge mentioned by ancient historians as spanning the valley and 
connecting the Temple with Jerusalem. Within the Temple area is the 
Mosque of Omar, or the Dome of the Rock, a magnificent structure 
rising in its dome-like grandeur from a great marble platform. There 
are other mosques within the area, but none equal to this, " next after 
Mecca the most sacred, next after Cordova the most beautiful, of all 
Moslem shrines." Beneath the foundation of the Temple area are 
various subterranean chambers, one of them, according to Mohammedan 




AT JERUSALEM'S WALL. 



tradition, being the birthplace of Jesus, and used as a chapel, which is 
dedicated to him. The site of the Temple, itself, is a matter of warm 
dispute. Some incline to the belief that the Mosque of Omar stands 
over the altar of the Temple and that its marble platform marks the 
site. Another theory is advanced, and voluminously supported by cir- 
cumstantial evidence, that a certain cave in a mysterious rock which the 
mosque incloses is the Holy Sepulcher. It will thus be seen how the 



296 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

minds of the Hebrew and the Christian must be torn with conflicting 
emotions in their vain endeavors to fix upon the exact locaHty of the 
spot which eacli considers so holy. 

. At the western wall, near where the piers and bridge arches were 
discovered, is the wailing place of the Jews; and here gather the pil- 
grims from all lands, as well as the residents of Jerusalem, to bewail 
their national misfortunes, and especially their exclusion from the Tem- 
ple where their fathers worshiped and which is now in ruins. This 
locality is near the squalid quarter of the city which is occupied by the 
Jews, and they seem to have chosen it because of the fine state of pre- 
servation in which they found the wall, retaining as it does a trace of 
the massive and perfect character of the Temple's architecture, and 
bringing to their minds something of its past glories and sanctities. 
" Many of the stones are twenty-five feet in length, and apparently have 
remained undisturbed since the time of the first builder. Here the 
Jews assemble every Friday to mourn over their fallen state. Some 
press their lips against the crevices in the masonry as though imploring 
an answer from some unseen presence within. Others utter loud cries of 
anguish. Here is one group joining in the prayers of an aged rabbi ; 
yonder another sitting in silent anguish, their cheeks bathed in tears. 
The stones are in many places worn smooth with their passionate kisses. 
The grief of the new-comers is evidently deep and genuine, but with the 
older residents it has subsided into little more than a mere ceremonial 
observance and an empty form." 

Lying north of the Temple area is the Valley of Jehosaphat, on 
the other side of which is the garden of Gethsemane, and, beyond, the 
Mount of Olives. Both Jew and Mohammedan believe that the valley 
is to be the scene of the final judgment ; the Mohammedan that his 
prophet will stand upon the Golden Gate, and Jesus upon the Mount of 
Olives, and together judge the world. The valley is therefore a con- 
tinuous grave-yard. The garden is about 80 yards square, contains a 
number of neat flower beds and gnarled olive trees, and is fenced with 
sticks. A rambling church building is perched upon the summit of the 
mount, 

THE ROAD TO JERICHO. 

Taking the road which carries us past the Mount of Olives, in a 
northeasterly direction, we journey along the bases of wild mountains 
and robber-like glens, toward Jericho and the plains of the Jordan. We 
have, in fact, a guard, for the Bedouins are frequently desperate. In the 
middle of the journey are the ruins of an ancient "khan." a resting place 




A WOMAN OF SYRIA. 



298 THE WORLD'S FAIR, 

for travelers, and which has stood in the same place from time im- 
memorial, the only one on the road ; the inn where stopped the Good 
Samaritan, who so tenderly cared for him who had been wounded and 
robbed. 

Jericho, the ancient, a great commercial city, stood upon the plain 
of the Jordan. Joshua destroyed it when he entered into the promised 
land. Three times more it became mighty and the residence of kings, 
and was thrice leveled to the ground, by Romans and Mohammedans. 
A Turkish hamlet next sprung up, and of this there only now remain 
a few wretched mud huts and a ruined Saracenic tower. 

BETHLEHEMITES. 

The men, many of whom are shepherds tending their flocks, usually 
are seen with their musical pipes of reed with mouth pieces of hardwood, 
all of home make. But the truth must be told, the words being bor- 
rowed from an English traveler and Christian, that although the Bethle- 
hemites are all professedly Christians, they are a turbulent, quarrelsome 
set, ever fighting amongst themselves or with their neighbors. In the 
disturbances which take place so frequently at Jerusalem, it is said that 
the ring-leaders are commonly found to be Bethlehemites, About five 
miles from Bethlehem, in the side of a limestone mountain, and 
approached by a narrow path through a rugged ravine, is a black slit 
through which one person can crowd, only to find before him a series of 
vast vaulted chambers. This has been fixed upon as the retreat of 
David and his followers, the cave of Adullam, 

Just outside of the village is the Church of the Nativity, situated 
upon the limestone hill which is the site of Bethlehem, being a noble 
structure with stately columns. The inn, or khan of the East, is gener- 
ally Avithout the town, and that of Bethlehem, upon whose site the church 
stands, was upon ground which had descended to David and to David's 
adopted son, Chimham, Long after the time of David it was known as 
the khan of Chimham, being the first resting place from Jerusalem on 
the road to Egypt, The chapel of the Nativity is a grotto, and there is 
strong evidence to prove that the Saviour was born in a cave which 
might have served as a stable to the inn, 

NAZARETH. 

Rapidly passing over the steep hills that encompass Nazareth the 
little village itself is reached. Before a visit is paid to the Church of the 
Annunciation, supposed to have been built on the site of Joseph's work- 





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IN THE HAREM. 



300 THE world's FAIR. 

shop, it is proposed to glance a moment at the women of Nazareth, As 
of old they are still bearing jugs of water to their homes, washing their 
clothes in little streams, engaging in the fields or in household duties. 
They are tall, erect and handsome, with Grecian features, seeming to 
have a touch of pride in their carriage, although they are courteous and 
pleasing. They do not veil their countenances, and instead of wearing 
gold and silver coins in their hair their faces are framed in a sort of cap 
to which is attached a pad covered with the coins, the lower row of 
which usually falls over the forehead. A similar fashion prevails among 
the Kurdish maidens. 

The chief attraction, artistically speaking, of the Church of the 
Annunciation is a painting which hangs over its altar. The central 
figure is Joseph, the carpenter, with his axe upon a block of wood, but 
his fatherly and wondering eyes are fixed upon the child Jesus, who sits 
on a low stool by the bench and is reading to him and to Mary, who 
likewise is seated and forgetful of all but her love and her wonder. 




RODUCTS OF HINDU SKILL 



THE HINDUS. 




iHE claim is made, based principally upon physical character- 
istics, that the Hindu, or native of Hither India, is an amalgam- 
ation of the Mongol and the Aryan. On the other hand 
those who place paradise and a submerged birth-place of races 
in the Indian Ocean start a great emigration from the south- 
west, rolling through Ceylon and Southern Hindustan and 
leaving in its track the Dravidas, or aborigines ; the Aryan 
stock spreading northwest from the Himalaya Mountains. 
But whether the Aryans came down from the north, mixing 
with such of the natives as they could and driving the balance 
into the jungles, or whether they came up from the south, to found a 
civilization on the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean 
Sea, certain it is that in the regular features, the brunette skin, the black 
hair, the long head and oval face of the Hindu stands confessed the 
Indo-European. 

The aboriginal tribes number about twenty million people and exist 
in the mountainous districts, in jungles or the outskirts of towns. 
Although they differ from the refined people of the higher castes, in 
physiognomy and cranial development they are quite distinct from the 
Indo-Chinese Mongolian. In their dispositions they are his antipode. 
British influence has somewhat subdued their ferocity — put it, perhaps, 
in irons — but although they have been drafted into the English army 
they are still the tigers of the jungles, with their claws cut off ; and 
although, they have had Brahmanism, Mohammedanism and Christian- 
ity near them for centuries, many of them persistently hide in the wilds 
of Hindustan and worship the Devil, as they did of old. Their human 
sacrifices, mostly of captive children, are offered to the malignant deities 
who alone are supposed to rule the world. 

But the Hindu proper, the Aryan-Indian, has not been in hiding, all 
these generations. He has developed a religious system which once was 
noble and has spread over the greater portion of Asia, modified by race 
and geographical peculiarities. He has been a gigantic manufacturer of 



302 THE world's FAIR. 

rich and delicate fabrics, silver and gold ware, furniture, swords — every- 
thing, in fact, wherein could be exercised his artistic taste, his manual 
skill and his indomitable patience. The hand of the Hindu was as cun- 
ning when Imperial Rome purchased the products of its skill as it is to- 
day. He works with the same rude tools as his father did; they are 
members of the same caste, and methods and tools are alike handed 
down from father to son. The Hindu farmer is supposed to be the first 
to rotate his crops, but the mechanism by which the rotation is accom- 
plished is crude in the extreme. The manure of cattle he will not use 
upon his land, as it is considered holy, and devoted to religious purposes. 

As architects the Hin- 
dus have showed great 
genius ; but their temples, 
distinguished for size and 
splendor, were built before 
the Christian era, and the 
structures erected by the 
Mohammedan emperors are 
of the Saracenic style of 
architecture, and therefore 
devoid of originality, though 
finely executed. The na- 
tives have constructed im- 
mense numbers of reser- 
voirs, massively built of 
stone, and the princes of 
former days undertook to 
put in operation a system 
of canals. They built a 
number which fell into dis- 
use and the work has been 
energetically taken up by 
the British Government, 
both to the end of furnishing the country with irrigating facilities and 
improving its navigable rivers, the Jumna and the Ganges. 

THE SYSTEM OF CASTE. 




BURGHERS OF CEYLON. 



The entire population of India was originally divided into four 
great castes. First there was a division which the Aryans made, by 
which they separated themselves from the Sudras, or aboriginal tribes 



SYSTEM OF CASTE. 



303 



which they found occupying the country when they invaded it. Caste, 
in the Sanskrit, signifies "color," the aborigines being of a darker com- 
plexion than the Aryans. The Sudras remained a distinct caste (ser- 
vants), and there were also the divisions of Brahmans, who were 
expounders of the Veda, and conducted the sacrifices ; the Kshatriyas, 
warriors and subordinate priests, and the Vaisyas, comprising the peas- 
antry and merchants. These great divisions were subject to further 
separations into specific trades and professions, and into the unclean 
castes of the aboriginal population. 

Although there is still a system of caste which is all-embracing, 
through the influence of Western thought the sharp lines of division are 
being gradually obscured. A man of high caste was formerly justified 
in slaying one of a lower one, who even 
touched him accidentally, and the lower 
castes were so unclean that it was consid- 
ered both sinful and criminal for a Brah- 
man to instruct them. Far beneath the 
uncleanliness of the aboriginal castes 
were those who had lost color in so- 
ciety. Eighty years ago, even, the system 
was at the height of Its glory. 

Persons Avho abandoned the Hindu 
religion, traveled Into foreign countries 
and ate forbidden food, or food cooked by 
an inferior caste, a union with women of 
a lower caste or a foreigner, the non-per- 
formance of the minutest religious rites, 
made the offenders and the offenses 
which were spurned and spit upon. To 
give a few instances : A Brahman of 
Calcutta was forced by a European to eat flesh and drink spirits, and 
another ate with a Brahman of a prescribed caste ; to get back into good 
standing they were obliged to pay thousands of dollars to their brethren. 
A number of Brahmans, who secretly performed the funeral rites over 
the body of a lady who had lost caste by associating with Mohammedans, 
were themselves excommunicated when their offense was discovered. 
In vain they applied for re-Instatement, and at last, in despair, one of 
their number tied himself to a jar of water and drowned himself in the 
Ganges, Three brothers lost caste through the indiscretion of their 
mother; one poisoned himself and the other two fled the country. A 
Brahman, in a moment of rashness, married a washerwoman's daughter. 




WATER CARRIER. 



304 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



His act was discovered, he sold his property, fled to another city and his 
wife became a maniac. A Mussulman nobleman seized the daughters 
of some Brahmans. They complained to the judge, but were irreckiim- 
ably disgraced, and poisoned themselves. 

The outcasts of Hindu society are therefore forced to form a class 
of their own. Those who are cast out of the lower ranks are put to the 

most menial tasks. All over 
Hindustan are found a people 
who are sprung from a mixture 
of castes, from the marriage of 
a sudra, or servant, with a Brah- 
man woman. Their occupations 
are those of the lowest day- 
laborers. They carry the dead 
to their graves, and deceased 
dogs to their last resting-places. 
They act as public executioners 
and perform other offices which 
usually devolve upon slaves or 
criminals. These outcasts are 
called Chandalahs, and are de- 
scribed by the sacred books: 
" The abode of the Chandalahs 
must be out of town. They must 
not have the use of entire vessels. 
Their sole wealth must be dogs 
and asses. They must wear 
only old clothes. Their dishes 
for food must be broken pots, 
and their ornaments rusty iron. 
INDIAN TREE HUTS. They must continually roam from 

place to place. Let food be given to them in potsherds, and not by the 
hands of the giver, and let them not walk by night in cities and towns," 
In Southern India is a body of outcasts, inhabiting the Tamul 
country, or the land of the Dravidas. The people are called Pariahs, 
and the name has been applied, collectively, to the thousands of outcasts 
who still adhere to the country which treats them so cruelly. Formerly 
the Pariah was obliged to wear a bell, in order that the Brahman might 
be warned of his approach, and escape from the very contamination of 
his shadow. So utterly are they detested by Hindu society, that the 
most disreputable mongrel dogs, roaming about the streets and suburbs 
or hunting in packs upon the plains, are called Pariah dogs. 




THE SYSTEM OF CASTE, 305 

It has been urged that caste was estabHshed for the practical good 
of separating society permanently into trades and professions, that per- 
fection might ultimately be attained. But we have seen how the system 
has worked in this particular, and it may be added, on the authority of a 
Hindu author, that "native carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, engravers, 
lithographers, printers, gold and silversmiths now-a-days turn out 
articles which in point of workmanship are not very much inferior to 
those imported from Europe. Of course they are materially indebted 
to Europeans for this improvement." 

Looking at the evil effects of the system from a higher point of 
view, it is a drag upon charity, mutual love and the true ideas of a 
religious life ; for the strange anomaly exists of being able to wash away 
the sins of a lifetime by simply washing in the sacred Ganges, and of 
being savagely cast out of the pale of fellowship, sometimes beyond re- 
call, because of the violation of certain arbitrary rules whose origin is 
yet in dispute. 

Where European influence is paramount, however, especially , in 
Bengal, the system of caste is dying. Superior castes engage in the 
occupation of the lower ; Brahmans hold government offices, act as 
soldiers, enter the service of Europeans, Mohammedans, and even Su- 
dras ; and under the British government, an actual loss of caste can not 
be punished by disinheritance or a forfeiture of property. 

Aside from European influence, two native forces are breaking down 
this hoary and evil institution. Over fifty years ago a religious sect was 
formed, composed of Christians of educational institutions, Mohammed- 
ans and Brahmans, whose tenets are the fatherly and brotherly love of 
one God, with Christ as His most holy and spiritual representative, the 
rejection of miracles, and the abolition of all distinctions of caste and 
religion as contrary to the broad, human character of their faith. The 
sect has been established in all the large cities of India. 

A nabob, named Peeralee, succeeded in destroying the caste of 
many noble and rich families of Calcutta, and from them have descended 
the Peeralees, a people who are scattered over the country. They have 
risen to power as philanthropists, reformers and patrons of literature, 
and although still Hindus in religion, they are outcasts from society. 
Brahman priests administer the religious rites for them, and they have 
tried to buy their way back to their former caste, but without avail. One 
of their number started an English paper called the " Reformer," which 
has done much to hasten the downfall of caste, and the general elevation 
and refinement of the Hindu community of Calcutta are principally due 
to themj 
20 



3o6 



THE world's fair. 



A BRAHMAN. 



For ages the Brahman upheld his title as "the twice-born," by his 
religious purity and moral excellence ; but from the worship of one God 
he has degraded himself to the adoration of 330,000,000 of gods and 
goddesses, and instead of studying how he can develop his spiritual 
nature that he may impart it to the world, he has become a mercenary, 
deceitful, scheming worldling and beggar. In short, some irreverent 
hard-headed statistician has taken the trouble to analyze the criminal 
records of Bengal, where the Brahmans greatly flourish, and he has 
found that representatives of this caste in the jails of the province far 
outnumber those of any other class. 

As a relic, however, of something pure and noble, it is of interest to 

learn how the Brahman is born into 
the privileges of his order, which 
consist of being feed, fed and 
feasted upon every possible occasion 
and of being accorded all outward 
honor. 

The sacred office of priest may 
be bestowed upon the boy, at from 
nine to fifteen years of age. Upon 
the day fixed, if the weather is fair, 
the candidate for sacerdotal honors, 
having abstained from the use of 
fish and oil, shaved his head, bathed 
his body and donned clothes of red, 
is furnished with a tall tinsel hat, 
and appears before the priest. His 
spiritual superior reads certain incan- 
tations, and after worshiping Vishnu, 
one of the Brahman Trinity — who 
is represented by the household god 
(a small, round stone) — the boy is covered with a cloth to keep him from 
the contaminating gaze of a non-Brahman; under the protection of the 
cloth he is invested with the mendicant's staff, the branch of a certain 
tree, at the top of which is tied a piece of dyed cloth. He afterwards 
receives the sacred thread of his caste, other incantations follow, the 
father even taking part, whispering the mysterious words to his son, lest 
some one o( an inferior caste should hear them. Dressed as a beggar, 
with a staff upon his shoulder and a wallet by his side, the youth solicits 




I MAN AT PRAYER. 



CASTES AND TRIBES. 



307 



alms of his relatives, who give him a small quantity of rice and some 
money. Burnt sacrifice is then offered by the father, and other forms 
are exhausted, after which the youthful aspirant, M^ho has been squatting 
upon the floor, rises in ecstacy and declares his intention of leading the 
life of a religious mendicant. But the boyish actor is persuaded to 
abandon a pretended determination, and which all parties to the comedy 
know is not sincere, by being reminded that the holy Shastra inculcates 
the cultivation of a clean heart and a religious spirit rather than outward 
humiliation. Casting down his beggar's staff, the boy assumes a thin 

bamboo staff, which he throws 
over his shoulder as an evi- 
dence that he has decided to 
remain v/ith the world. He Is 
taught to commit certain ser- 
vices, fasts, and for three days 
is prohibited from seeing the 
sun or the face of an inferior 
being. On the morning of the 
fourth day he goes to the sa- 
cred stream of the Ganges, 
throws the two staves into the 
water, bathes, repeats his pray- 
ers, returns home, and resumes 
his ordinary occupations. 

This is the ceremony which 

transforms a Hindu into a 

Brahman; but as the system of 

caste bars out the majority of 

natives from being thus "twice 

born," it is evident that 

many natives of Hindustan 

are strict adherents to what 

CHIEF OF A VILLAGE. j^^s come tobelcttowtt as Brah- 

manism without having ever become Brahmans. They are simply 

Hindus. 

CASTES AND TRIBES. 




In the separation of the Hindus into castes, tribal lines have gener. 
ally been observed. Brahmans, artisans and servants, however, must be 
distributed throughout society. In some cases whole tribes seem grad= 
ually to have changed their occupations, so that the agricultural caste of 



3o8 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



to-day may have been originally a military caste, and the greatest pride is 
taken in tracing the tribal genealogy back to one of the original four great 

castes. The tribes 
which have been 
fixed upon as the 
aborigines are the 
smallest in the pop- 
ulation, and usually 
live among the 
hills of Central and 
Southern India, 
One of the most 
noteworthy are the 
Gonds of Central 
India. They num- 
ber over 800,000, 
it is true, but that 
is small for an In- 
dian tribe. The 
Gonds are almost 
diminutive in stat- 
ure, but are hardy 
and brave. Near 
the Hindu bound- 
aries they are agri- 
culturists ; in the 
interior they are 
wild and savage in 
their social and re- 
1 i g i o U s customs. 
Universally, the 
men are great hunt- 
ers, their peculiar 
weapon being a 
small axe, which 
they throw with 
such skill and force 
as to kill both birds 
and animals. This they also use to fell trees, which they burn, plant- 
ing grain in the ashes. The chief hunters of the village also use 
matchlocks in the place of bow and arrow. The women are drudges, and 




A NATIVE HUNT 



;o9 



wives are bought and paid for in money or in services to their parents. 
The Gonds have intermarried with the Hindu tribes near them, espe- 
cially with the noble Rajpoots, in which case their physical characteristics 
are greatly modified. In Southern India is a variety of tribes whose 
occupancy of the hills antedates history. Some of them have dwindled 
to a few hundred. They live generally in communities, but one of the 
more populous tribes dwells in villages, with regular streets. The houses 
are of stone and mud, thatched, divided into separate apartments, and 
otherwise above the average hut, but strange to say the doorways are 
not more than 40 x 25 inches. 

A NATIVE HUNT. ' 

In the vast jungles lining the sacred Ganges, especially in the 
province of Bengal, lie in wait the most destructive to human life of any 

of the wild beasts — the royal 
Bengal tiger. In thickly set- 
tled districts the rifle has sup- 
pressed His Royal Highness, 
but in many parts of Bengal 
he still is the terror of the 
villages, attacking cattle and 
human beings with equal 
ardor. At night the villagers 
protect themselves with noisy 
drums and with torches ; by 
day they sometimes insti- 
tute a great hunt, in which the 
natives for miles around par- 
ticipate, some on foot and oth- 
ers on the backs of elephants. 

THE TAMULS. 

The chief of the Dravidian 
races, or aborigines of India, 
are the Tamils, or Tamuls, 
inhabiting a country in the southeastern part of Hindustan and por- 
tions of Ceylon. They are restless, lithe and dark brown, being 
the sailors of India, wandering along the coasts seeking employ- 
ment in English ships. Their language (the " Kuli ") has given a 
name to Indian laborers as a body, 




WOMEN OF CEYLON. 



A coolie is known the world 



3IO 



THE world's fair. 



over. The Tamuls are social and energetic, and have net that exclu- 
siveness which is a trait of several minor Dravidian tribes, who will have 
nothing to do with foreigners but live in walled villages and only inter- 
marry with their own people. The whole group of Dravidas is some- 
times called the Tamulian family. The Tamuls number over lo.oooooo 
souls. 

Near them are the Telugus, a populous tribe who are agriculturists, 
but were formerly of a commercial turn, holding, at one time, several 




HOUSE IN CEYLON. 

islands in the Indian Archipelago. They are tall, fair and commanding 
in appearance. 

In contrast to them are a hill tribe, in Central India, who, instead of 
numbering 14,000,000, as do the Telugus, muster not more than 1,400. 
They are the Kotar, but are models of industry ; for not only are they 
agriculturists, but carpenters, smiths, basket-makers and menders of 
plows. They, are in fact, a little inclined to be parsimonious, and 
dead cattle and carrion of every kind are promptly eaten by them. 

THE RAJPOOTS. 

This tribe claims to be descended from the original Kshatriya caste 
mentioned by Menu, who were to protect the people and serve as war- 



THE RAJPOOTS. 3 II 

riors, as well as offer sacrifice. The conflict seems to have been severe 
which established the supremacy of the Brahmans over them ; but while 
the latter have fallen from their high estate, this remnant of the primi- 
tive military caste maintains the ancient dignity » The territory of the 
Rajpoots is in Northwestern India, and includes fifteen states allied to 
the British government. Their history is made up of Mohammedan and 
native invasions which, for centuries, they resisted, but finally to be safe 
from the encroachments of neighboring states they placed themselves 
under the protection of Great Britain. 

The Rajpoots are not supposed to be pure Hindu, but show such 
force of character that their people have given chiefs to most of the tribes 
of Rajpoota. One of their tribes also dwells in Cashmere, and its chief 
is lord of that important state. 

The appearance of the Rajpoot does not belie his commanding char- 
acter, he being tall, vigorous and athletic. Woman is treated by him 
with a romantic gallantry which, with his other qualities, stamps him as 
the Norman of India. The Rajpoot lady is well informed and an illus- 
tration of the leaven which is to raise the female condition throughout 
India. 

THE GYPSIES' LAND. 

There are no other people in the world who have done so little for 
it, about whom so many theories have been advanced, as the gypsies. 
They received their name from the fact that the majority of early inves- 
tigators settled upon the theory that they were Egyptians; but they have, 
by turns, been called Egyptians, Hindus, Nubians, Tartars, Assyrians, 
Ethiopians, Armenians, Moors and German Jews. The most learned 
linguists of late years have, however, found in the words and structure 
of their language evidence which proves, beyond reasonable doubt, that 
it is a branch of the Sanskrit, corrupted by additions from the vocabula- 
ries of the many countries to which they have wandered, and that they 
are the descendants of some of the lower tribes of Northern Hindustan. 
The language is necessarily split into a multitude of dialects, but there 
are certain forms common to all, and it contains such evident mixtures 
from the Persian and Greek that the course of their first emigration has 
been traced. Persian and Arabian authorities identify them with a tribe 
of Northern Hindustan, 10,000 of whom were invited into Persia to 
satisfy the passion for music which is so marked in that country ; this was 
about 400 A. D. Wave after wave followed the first and the wanderers 
soon passed from Asia Minor into Europe, besides spreading into other 
parts of the continent and Africa. They refrain from eating certain 



312 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 




animals and are believers in transmigration of the soul ; but, if necessary 
to their well-being, they conform to the religion of the country in which 
they live. 

Notwithstanding the ease with which they adapted themselves to 
the views of others, on account of their modes of life and their mysteri- 
ous callings they v^ere from the first a proscribed race. Both Saracens 
and Tartars drove them out of Asia, and they 
were shrewd enough to pose as persecuted Christ- 
ians, when from the twelfth to the fifteenth centu- 
ries they made their appearance in hordes of thou- 
sands each, and 
begged, thieved 
and humbugged 
their way into 
Greece, Russia, 
Austria, Switzer- 
land, Italy, Ger- 
many, Scandi- 
navia, England, 
France and 
Spain. It seems 
to have been 
during this 
period that they 
s o effectually 
aroused the curi- 
osity of the civ- 
lized world as to their identity and real 
character. The whole race which had 
wormed itself into the most obscure 
cranny of Europe succeeded in adver- 
tising itself and its magic arts in a 
way which might make an enterpris- 
ing merchant blush for shame. They 
had been conquered in Egypt and forced to renounce Christianity. They 
had been reconquered by the Christians, and were now doing penance 
by their wanderings for having abandoned the true faith. Earlier still 
their forefathers had ill-treated Joseph and Mar)-, and they were all 
penitent, sorrowing, wandering jews. 

Finally the ignorance and superstition of the middle ages conspired 
against these dealers in the black arts, who had so thoroughly adver- 




^^ 



HINDU GYPSIES. 



OTHER GREAT TRIBES. 3 I 3 

tised themselves, and further interest in them for several centuries 
was swallowed up in an all-absorbing passion to crush them out of exis- 
tence. An illustration of the severity of the laws enacted against them 
is that which remained in force in Germany down to the i8th century, 
providing that every gypsy more than eighteen years of age found in 
the kingdom should be hanged. Later they were more humanely treated, 
Maria Theresa, of Austria, being specially active in efforts to improve 
their condition. Steps were taken to educate their children and induce- 
ments were offered for them to cultivate the soil. They settled in large 
numbers in the villages of Hungary and Transylvania, special streets 
being laid out for them and buildings erected. But these attempts to 




^-"^ -ij;*^y4:^, , -.^^. -->.'C 



A BAGGAGE ANIMAL. 



plant them in the soil, or bind them to any settled ways of life, proved 
generally abortive, as they always have done. In a more literal sense 
than of any other people it may be said that they are wanderers upon 
the face of the earth. 

In Europe, Asia, Africa, America and in the islands of every sea, 
they show their dark soft skin, large brilliant eyes, exquisitely shaped 
mouths, cherry lips, snow-white teeth, and elegant forms so picturesquely 
draped, being pronounced by critics to be among the fairest physical 
specimens of humanity which were ever created. If their morals were 
as perfect as their bodies, it were Avell that they thus displa)'ed them- 
selves to the world. 

OTHER GREAT TRIBES. 



The Cashmere, of Northwestern India, are ciaimed by many to be 



THE CEYLONESE. 



315 



the purest specimens of the ancient Hindus. They are tall, vigorous 
and industrious, the women being famed for their fine complexions and 
beauty. Their kingdom of Cashmere is enclosed by mountains, the 
valleys of which are wonderfully fertile. Rice is the common food of 
the inhabitants, and the lakes yield thousands of tons of a Avater-nut 
which may be ground into a flour, cooked or eaten raw. 

The valley of Cashmere is a picture for an artist, with its little vil- 
lages, all containing groves of poplars planted centuries ago by Mogul 
Conquerors, and its thousands of cattle, sheep and goats grazing on the 
hill-sides and fertile plains ; and near its center the city of Cashmere, 
lying for four miles on both sides of a tributary of the Indus, bound 
together with numerous canals and called the Venice of Asia. The 
city contains a gigantic Mohammedan mosque in which 60,000 people 
can worship and near it is a charming lake, with floating islands, sur- 
rounded by beautiful scenery and the gorgeous palaces of former Mogul 
emperors. This is the locality which Moore selected for the closing 
scene of Lalla Rookh. Cashmere is the center of the shawl industry 
and quite a commercial point. The kingdom is a portion of the terri- 
tory which the Sikhs transferred to Great Britain, but was sold by the 
latter to a rajah, and is independent. 

The Mahrattas for a century were the most powerful of the Hindu 
tribes, being for many years in possession of Delhi, the center of the 
Mohammedan power and capital of the Mogul empire. Their states 
which were finally united stretched quite across Hindustan, but after 
their defeat by the Afghans in 1761, they commenced to decline in 
power. A long war with England completed their subjugation as a 
military power, although they are still turbulent and predatory, and 
remarkable horsemen. They are scattered over portions of Central and 
Western India. 

THE CEYLONESE. 

Their island is chiefly noted for its natural scenery and for the 
stupendous ruins of a Buddhist civilization, which are buried in the 
depths of its dense forests. The primitive inhabitants are the Vaddahs, 
a tribe of outcasts who live in the caves and jungles of Eastern Ceylon 
or in mud huts near European settlements. A few words constitute 
their language ; they have not even a mythology, eat lizards and monkeys, 
and seem irreclaimable. 

The Singhalese are supposed to have emigrated from the valleys of 
the Ganges about the middle of the sixth century, and either brought 
Buddhism with them or were converted through the personal teachings 



3'6 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



of its great master. They founded a monarchy, and were in continual 
warfare with the Tamuls, or Dravidas of Southern Hindustan, whose 
kings often ruled the island and introduced the worship of Hindu deities 
into Buddhist temples. The Buddhism of Ceylon has, therefore, been 
greatly corrupted, notwithstanding the existence of its many sacred 
shrines to which thousands of pilgrims repair. Upon the summit of 
Adam's Peak will be shown the imprint of Buddha's sacred foot. His 

tooth is presented in an elegant shrine. 
In the north of the island was the 
ancient capital of Ceylon, and its 
mighty ruins indicate what must have 
been the power of the Singhalese, after 
they had obtained supremacy over the 
Tamuls and established Buddhism as 
the national faith. The most remarkable 
of these remains is a vast rockhewn- 
temple, at the right of its entrance 
being a reclining figure of Gautama 
(Buddha), forty-five feet in length. The 
mere ruins of a bell-shaped temple, or 
dagoba, tower to a height of 250 feet, 
with a diameter of 360, and, from base 
to pinnacle, the monument is covered 
with gigantic trees. At another point is 
the sacred Bo tree (whose pedigree has 
been traced to 288 B. C), and scattered 
over the island are colossal reservoirs and 
tanks which were parts of a general sys- 
tem of irrigation. The Singhalese are 
yet the most numerous of the natives, 
being devoted to that corrupted Buddhism which the Burmese are 
seeking to bring back to the original purity. 

RELIGIONS OF INDIA. 

The trinity of Brahmanism consists of Brahma as Creator, Vishnu 
as Preserver, and Siva as Destroyer. They are priestly developments, 
having no existence in the Vedas, the collection of hymns which formed 
the basis of the early Hindu religion, 

Brahma was originally the Eternal Essence of things; something 
to be contemplated, immaterial and invisible. After the Vedas came 
the Brahmanas, an expansion of some portions of the first religious 




BAS RELIEF FROM AN INDIAN TEMPLE. 



RELIGIONS OF INDIA. 3 I / 

books, by which the priests were set aside from the world as holy and 
divine, and Hindu society divided into castes. 

Prayer had ever been the all-important power, and without it the 
gods who are created in the Vedas could not rule the world. Brahman- 
aspati was the god of prayer, and therefore became the great god, his 
priests, the Brahmans, being little below him. There is a Vishnu in the 
Vedas, but he is rarely mentioned, and is named as a minor sun god. 
But he has been developed into the creator of the earth and the 
preserver of its unbroken order. Siva is god of the destructive forces, 
and has his minor gods. His forerunner in the Vedas is supposed to be 
Indro, the god of storms, Siva, however, was actually adopted from the 
mythology of the Dravidas, who were thus bound closer to Brahmanism. 

The very creation of the trinity of Brahmanism is ascribed to the 
opponents of Buddhism, who wished thereby to unite all the elements of 
the Aryan and the aboriginal population which were opposed to the new 
doctrine. A symbol, so to speak, was then formed, represented by the 
image of a body with three heads cut out of a single block of' stone. 

The separate images of the gods which form the trinity seem to 
vary. Brahma is represented with several heads, each one of which Is 
crowned. 

Siva is usually four-handed, and has three eyes, one In the middle 
of his forehead. In one hand Is a trident. In another a sling, while his 
other hands are either empty or contain an antelope and a flame of fire. 
Around his neck Is a necklace of skulls, and on his head is a cap of 
elephant or tiger skin. In different images, Siva's hands vary from four 
to thirty-two. 

Vishnu Is generally represented as attended by an eagle, and having 
four hands and a number of heads, emblematic of his omniscience and 
omnipresence. 

One of the Vedic hymns makes the creation of the world to consist 
of three acts — first, love which was born of religious meditation ; second, 
the Impulse which love gave to the creative element, fire ; and third, the 
act of creation. Manu, the first ancestor of mankind, was the father of 
the Aryans ; and this fact gave rise, later, to their separation from the 
darker tribes, and the establishment of the first system of caste. Vishnu 
assignea Manu to the earth, and the latter was the author of the most 
famous of the social and public laws of the Hindus. 

The only trinity which is authorized by the Vedas Is that of " om" 
— a mysterious syllable which in the Sanskrit is formed with three 
letters; three letters and one sound — this is the real trinity of the 
ancient Hindu religion. One of Its religious text books is entirely 



INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM. 319 

devoted to showing how " om " is immortal. Among its most lucid 
passages are these : "Om is immortal. Its unfolding is this universe, is 
all that was, is, and shall be. Indeed, all is the word om ; and if there 
is anything outside of these three manifestations, it is also om. For this 
all is Brahma; this soul is Brahma." 

Fire, as has been seen, is pronounced a divine and creative element; 
hence it is Agni, the god of fire, who burns the body that he may recreate 
a celestial form which he allows another god to endow with immortality. 

The goddess Doorga, wife of Siva, is the Minerva of the Hindus, 
and even of greater power than she, for Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are 
all said to have propitiated her, and she was the terror of the other gods. 
Her image represents her with three eyes and ten arms, in the act of 
piercing a giant with a spear and with the fangs of a huge serpent which 
she grasps by the tail. Her other hands are filled with weapons of war. 
In honor of this monster is held the greatest of the Hindu festivals, com- 
memorative of the day on which a great king of India, now deified, 
marched against a prince of Ceylon who had stolen his perfect wife. 
Other festivals are celebrated in honor of the goddess, but this is the 
greatest of all, because superstition and national pride join hands to give 
it ^clat. 

Sudra, the king of heaven holds the first place among the infe- 
rior deities, his position being maintained only by constantly warring 
against the giants of India. He may be ejected by a Brahman. Tama, 
the holy king, judges the dead, he being a hideous green man in red 
garments who holds court in the mountains. The rivers of India are 
divinities, particularly the Ganges, which descends from heaven, and 
whose waters purify sin. 

Krishna was one of Vishnu's incarnations. Another of Krishna's 
titles is Jagannatha, or lord of the world. To him is dedicated a 
great temple, that of Jagannatha, or Juggernaut. The town situated in 
Bengal is called by the same name. But the great car of Juggernaut, 
forty-three feet high, with its sixteen ponderous wheels, no longer crushes 
any human victims. The temple, however, is still the most holy of the 
shrines of Hindustan, and is visited annually by 1,000,000 pilgrims. 

So, through the centuries, the gods went on multiplying. Every 
physical principle and force of the earth had one, and to cover the in- 
finity of the heavens hundreds of thousands, — yea, millions — of gods, 
were created, although not called by name. 

INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM. 

Although Buddhism has been all but confined to Ceylon, "The 
Divine Island," which tradition assigns as the scene of many of Buddha's 



320 THE world's FAIR. 

priestly labors, it threatened, at one time, to supplant Brahmanism, and 
has in spite of its persecutions, had much influence upon Brahmanism, 
and has spread over the vast empires to the east. Buddhism abolished 
caste as a religious institution and carried its religion to all people. Purity 
of conduct was inculcated — " to eschew everything bad, to perform 
everything good, to tame one's thoughts." All sacrifices were rejected. 
Nature was an illusion. The final object is Nirvana, the deliverance of 
the soul from all pain and the body from all passions by right view, right 
sense, right speech, right action, right position, right energy, right mem- 
ory and right meditation. Buddhism left to Brahmanism the doctrine 
of the incarnation of the gods, which has been, for ages, an important 
feature of the Hindu religion. This incarnation is called by the Brah- 
mans an Avatar, Vishnu having been especially favored in this respect. 
He is said to have passed through seven different incarnations, in all of 
which he destroyed the enemies of the human race. 

A MOHAMMEDAN. 

An Indian Mohammedan does not essentially differ from that of 
Turkey, being principally distinguished from a Hindu for his restlessness 
under restraint of British rule. He is proud and arrogant, remembering 
when he was the conqueror of India and occupied the magnificent city 
of Delhi, as the capital of his great empire. This he still calls the city 
of the King of the World, in remembrance of one of the most powerful 
Mogul emperors of India. He looks upon the great mosque, built by 
another emperor, who quelled both Persians and Afghans and further 
solidified the cause of Mohammedanism, and then he scowls upon the 
Englishman. 

In Mohammedan eyes this mosque is one of the wonders of 
the world. It stands on a rocky height near the center of the city, 
being built on a paved platform. The mosque is approached by 
broad stone steps, is lined and faced with white marble, surmounted 
by three domes of the same material, striped with black, and having at 
each end of the front a high minaret. Scattered through and around 
the city are more than forty other mosques and tombs of the emperors 
and Mussulman saints. 

In the center of the Northwestern Provinces of British India is the 
province and city of Agra, once the capital of the Mogul Empire. Its 
ancient walls embraced an area of nearly twice that of the modern city. 
Within the English fort, which limits the latter, is the palace of a former 
Great Mogul, and a pearl mosque, while near the Jumna River, a short 



THE FAKIR. 



32f 



distance east, is the mausoleum erected for himself and wife upon which 
20,000 men were employed for twenty- two years. It is built in the form 
of an irregular octagon, is of white marble, and so lavishly decorated that 
the whole of the Koran is said to be written in precious stones on the 
interior walls. The tomb of another Mogul emperor is six miles from 
the city ; so that Agra is almost as much a lasting humiliation to the 
Mohammedan as Delhi itself. The Hindus greatly predominate, and 
venerate the city as the scene of one of Vishnu's incarnations. 

THE FAKIR. 

The Fakir of India is a re-appearance of the Dervish of Turkey, 
Persia and Arabia. It is an Arabian word, and this mendicant monk is 
much more of a Mohammedan than a Hindu. Mendicancy, with the 
accompaniment of personal degradation, is no part of Brahmanism 
There seems, how- 
ever, to be a cer- '^ 
tain class of Fakirs, 
who are partial 
subs cr ibers to 
Brahmanism, and 
who believe that, 
by great austerity, 
complete isolation 
and intense medi- 
tation, they may 
even obtain power 
over the invisible 
world ; stories are 
related of mortals 
who have thus ex- 
p el led divinities 
from the very heav- 
ens. Some hide 
themselves in the 
woods, allowing 
their hair and nails to grow, and their bodies to become covered 
with filth until they are more repulsive than wild beasts. Others 
remain with their arms raised above their heads, or their bodies bent 
double, until they assume these positions permanently; or they go 
naked, sleeping upon the ground without shelter of any kind, never 
kmdhng a fire, but using the excretions of cattle for food, considering 




ROYAL PALACE AT AGRA. 



322 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

this a holy act, since the co\y is one of India's sacred animals. Another 
form of penance is to lay fire upon the scalp and allow it to burn to the 
bone ; to tie the wrists to the ankles, cover the body with filth, and then 
roll along, from village to village, begging and giving advice to the awe- 
stricken. Those who believe in a more passive kind of self-torture have 
been known to bury themselves in the ground and take their food and 
water through narrow tubes, for unmentionable periods. 

The primary requisite in a Fakir is, of course, abject poverty, and 
some of those who travel over the country wear robes rent into tatters, 
such as the Mussulmans fondly believe were worn by the prophets of 
old. They often carry a cudgel, a battle axe or a spear, on which are 
hung rags of various colors ; but it is said that these weapons are put to 
more wicked uses when the bearers meet travelers upon a lonely high- 
way. In the towns, they appear as religious teachers. The Fakir, who 
has a long chain attached to one leg, which he clanks as he prays» 
becomes a superior being before whom the superstitious Indians grovel 
and tremble, and to whom they come to be cured of their diseases. 

A PARSEE. 

In Hindustan his home is Bombay, the western capital of British 
India. In Persia, the native land of Zoroaster, whose follower he is, he 
is oppressed and degraded by the Mohammedans as a " guebre," or infi- 
del. There, also, he is wedded to the worship of fire, and has lost sight 
of its symbolic character. This is so to a great extent in Hindustan, 
temples being built over subterranean fires and sacred flames, which 
Zoroaster is said to have brought from heaven. Priests tend the fire on 
altars, chanting hymns and burning incense. But the Parsee of India 
is not content to rest here, and a great effort is being made to restore 
the religion to its original purity ; to follow the simple faith of the Persian 
prophet to this end : — that the two principles of good and evil animate 
the universe,and are found in every created thing ; that the good is eternal 
and will prevail over the evil, and that God has existed from all eternity. 

From Bombay as a center the sect is increasing quite rapidly. Next 
to the Europeans, also, the Parsees have built not only some of the 
largest vessels in the service of the East India Compan)-, but have even 
constructed frigates and men-of-war. But, although commercially, politi- 
cally, intellectually and socially they take rank with the Europeans, and 
are adopting many Western customs, they have not yet abandoned their 
peculiar way of treating the dead. On the summit of Malabar Hill, the 
most fashionable suburb of the city, is the Parsee cemetery, walled and 
guarded. It contains five round towers, each about sixty feet in dia- 
meter and fifty feet in height and surmounted by a large grate. The 



A SIKH. 323 

bodies of the newly dead are placed upon these towers, and when the 
vultures have removed the flesh from the skeletons the bones fall through 
the grate into the inclosure beneath. 

Between the Indus and the Ganges, in Northwestern India, are a 
race of people called the Jats, who are supposed to be of a northern 
origin, either descendants of the Scythians or Huns. They are of the 
agricultural caste, are tall and robust, with clear-cut features, and the 
finest specimens of physical manhood in India. Besides leading in 
husbandr)-, their history has shown that they are second to no tribe as 
brave warriors. 

A SIKH. 

A Sikh is a Jat who has adopted the best portions of Mohammedan- 
ism and Brahmanism. The founder of the sect was of the warrior caste, 
who in his youth had been educated as a Hindu and afterwards was 
adopted by a Mohammedan dervish. He therefore imbibed the prin- 
ciples of both religions, and when he came to promulgate his own 
doctrines, toleration and the brotherhood of man were naturally its lead- 
ing tenets. Those whom he drew to his religious standard were called 
simply " Sikhs," or " disciples." His successors as heads of the sect were 
able and bold, and were looked upon as the arch enemies of both 
Mohammedanism and Brahmanism. One of them was tortured and put 
to death by the Mussulman government. 

Then commenced a fierce war against the Mohammedans. The 
Sikhs were driven into the mountains of the Northern Punjaub where 
they formed a state of a decidedly democratic turn. All caste was 
abolished. The Sikhs, irrespective of social standing, wore a blue dress. 
Every man was a soldier and constantly carried his steel blade. The 
contest against the Mohammedans M^as renewed, periodically, and the 
Sikhs became so powerful that the Shah took the field against them 
personally, and almost annihilated them. This was after they had fought 
the fight for conscience' sake, for two centuries. But fifty years there- 
after (1764) they had so recovered as to be able to drive the Afghans 
from the Punjaub, and for seventy-five years more existed as petty states 
and as one powerful kingdom, known as Lahore. The English subdued 
them, and they remained faithful to their conquerors during the Sepoy 
rebellion. A few states continue to be independent, situated in South- 
eastern Punjaub. 

THE HINDU FAMILY. 

As to the duties of the male and female heads of a Hindu household 
they do not essentially differ from those of the American husband and 
wife. From all accounts the women are usually models of economical 
management and the men are careful to lay in a month's supply of 



324 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



provisions at a time. In the upper and central provinces it is customary, 
at harvest, to buy a year's supply. 

Little Hindu children with their light brown skins, dark eyes and 
hair, acquiline noses, high foreheads and intelligent faces are sheltered, 
loved and educated with true devotion; to be without children is counted 
not only a misfortune, but a sin for which religious atonements are 
required. It is in the painful seclusion which the Hindu women suffer 
and in their separation from their older sons and their husbands that 
the difference between Eastern and Western households is mostly 
observed. 

The houses are so constructed that the court-yard is always reached 

through a tortuous passage way 
which is closed by a low door. 
There is an outer and an inner 
apartment, below. The rooms 
above are reached by small 
contracted staircases. 

Not satisfied with shut- 
ting them out from fresh air 
and sunshine, when meal time 
comes custom requires that 
the women shall eat separately 
from the men. In the morn- 
ing the children are served 
first,that they may go to school. 
Then the adult male members 
are favored, the mother and 
wife squatting with them on a 
bit of carpet. She sees that 
everybody is properly waited 
upon by the servants, and 
although she participates in 
the conversation she can not 
eat. The cooking is generally 
left to Brahman servants, but 
it is not uncommon for wealthy Hindu ladies to take a pride in preparing 
the evening meal of their sons and husbands. 

The Hindu woman is separated from her husband's elder brothers 
as by Avails of adamant. She can not speak to her husband, or lift her 
veil, in the presence of her mother-in-law. In a word she is neither to be 
seen nor heard when elder members of the family are around. 

After the family have separated she changes her clothes and retires 




CLOTH VENDERS. 



A SONS BIRTH. 325 

to a room in which is the tutelar god, usually an image of Krishna made 
of stone and metal, placed on a gold or silver throne, upon which are a 
silver umbrella and household utensils dedicated to it. She prostrates 
herself, invokes its blessing and takes her breakfast, which like all other 
meals is simple, consisting principally of vegetables, fish and milk ; then 
she enjoys a nap, chewing afterwards a mouthful of betel to color and 
strengthen her teeth. After she has changed her garments for secular 
robes she bathes, as a religious duty. If she is poor and lives near the 
Ganges, she goes to the sacred stream, and, as the sun rises and sets, 
washes her body and clothes at its banks. In the upper provinces, at all 
seasons of the year, hundreds of women can be seen daily walking toward 
its waters, with baskets of flow^ers upon their heads, chanting in chorus 
the praises of the sacred river of India. In the Hindu household, 
also, ladies are not permitted to participate in domestic occupations unless 
they bathe their bodies and change their garments, morning and after- 
noon. 

Morning and evening, also, the priest visits the house to worship 
its god, bless the members of the family and carry away the offerings of 
rice, fruits, sweetmeats and milk. For the support of the household 
god the Hindu sometimes sets apart an endowment fund of landed pro- 
perty. 

A SON'S BIRTH. 

The birth of a male child is announced by the sounding of a conch 
or large shell, and when the mother hears the welcome note she is con- 
vinced that she has been under the kind charge of the goddess Shashthi, 
who has charge of children. Her heart sings for joy; for she knows 
that a male child will be welcomed by her husband ; while, if the shell is 
mute, she raves in a double agony, for a little daughter is at first an 
interloper of the Hindu world. "The family barber bears the happy 
tidings of a son's birth to all the nearest relatives, and he is rewarded 
with presents of money and clothes. Oil, sweetmeats, fishes and curdled 
milk are presented to the relatives and neighbors, who, in return offer 
their congratulations. A rich Hindu, though he study practical domes- 
tic economy very carefully is, however, apt to loosen his purse string at 
the birth of a son and heir. The mother forgetting her trouble and 
agony, implores Bidhata (the god of fate) for the longevity of the child." 

The goddess Shashthi is, on the sixth day after the great event, 
worshiped in front of the room where the child was born, the officiating 
priest making offerings of food and clothes. There are deposited in the 
mother's room a palm leaf, a pen and ink and a serpent's skin ; the arti- 
cles beine to aid the eod of fate in writing on the forehead of the child 



326 THE world's FAIR. 

its future destiny. On the eighth day, the children of the house and 
neighborhood, after being feasted, repair to the door of the room, beat- 
ing upon a fan with small sticks, asking, " How is the child doing ?" and 
shouting, upon a favorable reply being given, " Let it rest in peace on 
the lap of its mother." 

The boy has in the meantime been blessed by his father and rela- 
tives, gold coins (for good fortune) have been forced into his baby hands, 
and he has been visited by the family astrologer, who has noted the day, 
the hour and the minute of his birth and cast his horoscope. He may be 
named after a god, which is common. If the child is a daughter, on the 
other hand, she may go through life, eventually loved and petted, but 
burdened with such a name as Ghyrna (despised\ The ceremony of 
christening occurs when the child is six months old, upon which occa- 
sion it is fed with a little boiled rice which has been sanctified ; the baby 
being shaved, clad in a silk garment and adorned with gold ornaments. 

HE GOES TO SCHOOL. 

The boy grows like other babies, and besides the care he receives 
from his parents may likewise be protected by a metal charm, which is 
strung upon a string tied around his loins. At the age of five, if the as- 
trologer pronounces the day propitious, the youngster is bathed, put in 
anew garment, and taken to the image of the goddess of learning, where 
the priest is again found waiting to intercede for him and bear away the 
offerings, as well as his own gift. He is then introduced to the master 
of the infant school, where he writes his letters upon the ground (five at 
a time) with a soft stone. As he advances, he writes upon palm leaves, 
slate and paper, with a wooden pen and ink, and each step is marked by 
a gift of food, clothes and money made by his parents to the master, the 
regular fee being from one penny to three pence a month. Reading 
and a little arithmetic are also taught. 

To ensure an early attendance a master resorts to the practice of 
giving the first comer one rap with a cane, the second two, the third 
three, and the last boy, or a truant, is made to stand on one leg and 
hold out a brick in his right hand until he is completely exhausted. 
Another native mode of punishment is to apply the leaves of a stinging 
plant to the back of the naught)- boy. 

When the boy is six years old, if his parents have become imbued 
with Western ideas and they can afford it, he is sent to one of the public 
schools of Calcutta, where he receives an education in both his own and 
the English language, and may eventually undergo a university training. 
But social and family duties may call him into other fields, 



THE GIRLS EDUCATION. 327 

THE GIRL'S EDUCATION. 

The education of the girl as a wife commences when she is little 
more than a baby. When she is five years old she is not brought before 
the goddess of learning, but before the goddess Doorga. This divinity, 
under the instruction of some elderly woman, the little girl represents 
by two tiny images of clay, which she makes and sprinkles with water 
from the Ganges, repeating as the drops fall, "All homage to Siva"; 
this being the name of Doorga's model husband, whom she worshiped 
before and after marriage. The innocent child is then required to offer 
flowers and leaves to the goddess, and flowers and sandal paste to Siva, 
to the god and husband. To a supposed question from the god as to 
her wishes, the baby replies that she desires the prince of the king- 
dom for her husband ; that she may be beautiful and virtuous and the 
mother of "seven wise and virtuous sons and two handsome daughters", 
that she may have good daughters-in-law and sons-in-law and a well-filled 
granary and farm-yard ; that her dear ones may enjoy long life and pros- 
perity and that she may eventually die on the banks of the sacred 
Ganges. 

Within the next few months the Hindu maiden makes various vows 
or " bratas," all accompanied by painting upon the floor with rice paste 
the images of gods, men, ornaments of gold and precious stones, houses 
and granaries, her prayer being for an affectionate husband, and only 
one. Her last performance (still a child of five years), after invoking a 
blessing from above, is to curse her possible rival of bed and board. 
The rival wife is called a "sateen," and she is to become "a slave," be 
exposed to infamy, have "her head devoured," and die — if she ever live , 
but her prayer is to " never be cursed with a ' sateen' " — this is the hfe- 
long prayer of a Hindu female from babyhood to old age. 

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 

The girls are married at from eight to thirteen years of age — in the 
opinion of the Hindus, the earlier the better. At the age of seventeen 
or eighteen the boy is a subject for matrimony. Sometimes the children 
are pledged to each other in infanc)', or the marriage may be arranged 
by professionals, called "ghatucks." 

The strongest point in favor of the youth, now-a-days, supposing that 
his social standing is good, is that he has passed successfully all the ex- 
aminations of the university and has been honored with a degree. The 
parents of such a boy demand of the parents of the girl that they shall 
be guaranteed a long list of gold ornaments, which constitute the 



325 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

wealth of the bride. The expense to the maiden's parents, who are de- 
termined to marry their daughter, is increased to almost a ruinous 
extent by many feasts both before and after marriage ; it is estimated that 
a tolerably respectable marriage will cost at least $i,ooo. The prelimi- 
naries having been arranged, the youth is examined in the presence of 
his future father-in-law and a university graduate as to his literary 
acquirements, and the girl is put through a course of questioning by 
relatives of the boy's family, after which, if all is well, a written agree- 
ment is drawn up, written by a Brahman on Bengallee paper with Ben- 
gallee pen and ink. This makes the document sacred and binding ; it 
must also consist of an odd number of lines. 

When the contract is signed and ratified, the females of the party 
sound two conch shells — one for the bridegroom and another for the 
bride. Subsequently the boy puts on a red bordered cloth, stands on a 
" grindstone surrounded by four plantain trees, while five women (one 
must be of the Brahman caste) whose husbands are alive, go around him 
five or seven times (an odd number is lucky), anoint his body with tur- 
meric, and touch his forehead at one and the same time with holy water, 
betel nuts, rice paste, and twenty other little articles." A bit of the tur- 
meric paste with which he has been anointed is sent by the family barber 
to the bride in a silver cup, and her body is also anointed with it. A 
long and ridiculous series of feasts and formalities precede the celebra- 
tion of the nuptials in the chamber of worship of the bride's house. 

The priest first ties around the bridegroom's fingers fourteen blades 
of grass, seven for each hand, pouring a little holy Ganges water into 
his right; this hand he holds while the father-in-law repeats an incanta- 
tion. Rice, flowers, grass, water and sour milk, with prayers intermixed, 
are showered upon the young man (figuratively speaking), and he is 
finally directed to put his hand into the copper pan of holy water which 
stands before the priest. Having done so, the priest places the hand of 
the bride on that of the bridegroom, and ties them together with a gar- 
land of flowers. The father-in-law gives his daughter away, naming, as 
he does so, the fine clothes and jewels which she wears. The bridegroom 
says: "I have received her"; after which the father-in-law unties the 
hands of the couple, pours holy water upon their heads and blesses 
them. 

The bride is all this time closely veiled, and has, in fact, never been 
seen by the bridegroom ; but now a silken cloth is thrown over their 
heads and, underneath it, they are asked to look at each other. Parched 
rice and grass are then offered to Brahma, and a small piece of cloth 
decorated with betel nuts, is tied to the scarf of the bridegroom and the 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 329 

silken garment of the bride — symbolic of a perpetual union. It would 
be tiresome to enumerate the successive steps which the young couple 
take before they are formally wedded, consisting of religious rites, feasts, 
practical jokes played upon them, little ceremonials calculated to bring 
them joy and allay their bashfulness, as well as actions on the part of the 
females which should not be described. 

FEMALE EDUCATION. 

The great obstacle in the way of elevating Hindu women, and 
thereby society, is the custom of withdrawing them not only from the 
world when they are married, but from all educational influences. In 
those parts of the country which have never been under the dominion of 
Mohammedan conquerors, this fact is not so evident. But they estab- 
lished themselves, and their peculiar ideas of preserving the virtue of 
woman, throughout the plains of the holy Ganges, from which they 
spread, more or less, over the whole country. Before their advent, 
education was prevalent to a considerable extent among women. 

Even in our days among the great tribes of the Punjaub and Rajpoo- 
tana, in the northwest, as well as among the Mahrattas, of the south- 
west, who are noted for their strength, intellectually and bodily, there 
are not a few accomplished and scholarly women. Formerly every 
respectable female of Rajpootana was instructed to read and write. One 
of the latter people, an excellent Sanskrit scholar, lately visited Calcutta, 
the center of modern education, and astonished all by her wonderful 
acquirements. And even in the Bengal districts, which are particularly 
Mohammedan, since the establishment of British power, Hindu women 
are making great advances. Many of them after they withdraw into the 
" zenana " (which corresponds to the Mohammedan harem) engage 
teachers to instruct them, not only in needle work, but in those branches 
which lay the foundation of an intellectual mind. Some of them have 
passed commendable examinations even in the University and Normal 
School of Calcutta. 

"THE ORDER OF MERIT." 

The hatred of polygamy, which is inculcated into the female's mind, 
almost from infancy, does not prevent its existence in Hindu society. 
Manu authorized it, as did God through Mohammed. Not only was 
it said that women had " no business with the text of the Veda" and " no 
evidence of lav\'," but they must be held by their "protectors in a state 
of dependence"; and that the sateen maybe brought into the house 



330 THE world's fair. 

if a prior wife is childless for seven years, if she has lost all her children 
by the tenth year, if for ten years she has borne only daughters, or, if 
she speak unkindly, " without delay." Great teachers of Brahmanism 
have even added to the various pretexts by which the Hindu has carried 
polygamy into his household, despite the life-long protests of the woman. 

Polygamous Brahmans are known as "koolins," and native investi- 
gators, who have had the best opportunities to look into their family 
affairs, assert that their numerous marriages are made generally for pur- 
poses of worldly gain, or for bare support. When money is required for 
themselves or wives they pounce upon their father-in-laws for it. "Among 
the Turks," says a Hindu author, "seraglios are confined to men of 
wealth, but here a Hindu Brahman, possessing only a shred of cloth and 
a piece of thread, keeps more than a hundred mistresses." The custom 
is furthermore said to be productive of crimes on the part of the women 
too horrible and unfit to relate, and from the abandoned wives and 
daughters of the koolins come most of the Hindu females of ill-repute. 
The parents'of daughters who thus place their children in such jeopardy 
usually seek to have them married to Brahman koolins on account of 
the caste of the bridegroom and in order to keep up the honor of 
their families. The children of these marriages invariably remain with 
their mothers and are maintained by the relatives of these females. 
The pictures which have been drawn of the inner life of these harems 
are composed of constant quarreling between the wives on personal 
grounds and on account of their children, screaming and cursing, and 
forcibly expressed wishes by each that she may "eat the head" of the 
other, — viz., cause her death. Even separate cook rooms, separate 
apartments, and giving the same set of ornaments to each do not bring 
peace, especially if one of the wives has received the usual education of 
being taught to hate a rival. 

An attempt is being made by native reformers, with which Hindu- 
stan is swarming, to abolish the Order of Merit, as the koolin system 
was first known. The British Government was even memorialized to 
take a legislative hand in its destruction, but refused to interfere with the 
social customs of the nation. The practice of burning widows with the 
dead bodies of their husbands, which has been a most ancient custom, 
has been abolished within the limits of British "India (which comprises 
two-thirds of the area and five-sixths of the population of Hindustan), 
not by legislative enactment, but by gradually throwing many obstacles 
in the way of the horrible practice. 

It would never, in all likelihood, have had so long an existence, were 
it not for the pious austerity which Manu enjoins upon the widow, as 



A PATRIARCH S DEATH. 33I 

a passport to paradise. She is to emaciate her body by Hving volun- 
tarily on pure flowers, roots and fruits, not pronounce the name of 
another man, and to abstain from the common pursuits of life. She may 
not even take part in any good work which will bring her into contact 
with society, but is expected to remain with her mother, or grandmother, 
perhaps in the holy city of Benares living upon one coarse meal a day, 
fasting regularly twice a month and upon every religious celebration; 
to strip herself of even iron and gold bangles, earrings and bordered 
clothes ; is not permitted to daub her forehead with vermilion, and is 
denied every feminine pleasure. If she has not children to solace her, 
in despair she shaves her head and pines away neglected, or, recklessly 
severs every tie, throws behind her all feminine honor and leads the 
worst life of which a Hindu woman is capable. 

A PATRIARCH'S DEATH. 

A Hindu family is patriarchal in its composition, husband and wife, 
sons, daughters and daughters-in-law dwelling under the same roof. 
Their own daughters may be married, also, as on account of the tender 
age of Hindu husbands their wives usually live at home for several years, 
and during this period the father-in-law is expected to support them all. 
When the head of the household therefore takes to his bed, laying aside 
all considerations as to natural affection, it is a season of great anxiety, 
and when the native physician announces that he is no more destined to 
have rice and water, torrents of grief are released from the men, women 
and children. 

If possible, the sick man is borne on a cot to the banks of the Gan- 
ges and is told to look upon the sacred stream, and as he opens his eyes 
he sees scores of bodies, in all stages of life and death, brought thither 
to be stamped with the sacred seal. The person Avho is thus hurried to 
the Ganges is often entrusted to the care of servants, who, if he persist 
in living, " get tired of their charge and are known to resort to artificial 
means, whereby death is actually accelerated. They unscrupulously pour 
the unwholesome muddy water of the river down his already choked 
throat, and, in some cases, suffocate him to death. The process of Hindu 
'antarjal,' or immersion, is another name for suffocation. 

' In the case of an old man the return home after 'immersion' is 
infamously scandalous, but in that of an aged widow the disgrace is more 
poignant than death itself. Scarcely any effort has ever been made to 
suppress or even to ameliorate such a barbarous practice, simply because 
religion has consecrated it with its holy sanction." The above are the 
words of a former Brahman, who has seen the errors of his native religion. 



332 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



He instances cases in which the aged of both sexes were returned to 
their homes, after they had undergone this murderous process a dozen 
times ; anxious to die, having looked upon the Ganges, but unable to 




pass away, so vital is the spark of life. Disgraced beings, they dragged 
on a miserable existence, and one of them, a widow, at length drowned her- 
self in the divine river.which is thought to flow front the throne of the gods. 



THE SACRED CITY. 333 

If the man dies, with the names of the gods whispered in his ears 
by his attendants, his body is burned at the Nimtollah Ghaut, the most 
noted river terrace at Benares, the son setting fire to the pile, if he 
luckily is present. A portion of the body, which is not burned, is 
thrown into the Ganges, and the funeral pile is watered from the 
sacred stream, the son also bathing in it. Upon returning to the stricken 
home, he is greeted by the doleful cries of the females who are beating 
their breasts and tearing their hair. 

For a month the son goes unshaved, with unpared finger nails, 
dresses in a simple white garment and lives upon a very slender diet- 
To fully carry out Hindu regulations, consisting of presents of money, 
brass pots, silver utensils, sweetmeats and sugar, to the Brahmans, the 
Pundits (professors), and so on down the grade of castes, with special 
entertainments, after the funeral, to the Brahmans, the " Kayastas " 
(writers) and other classes, a fortune is required. A late Rajah of 
Calcutta celebrated the demise of his illustrious father at an expense of 
$250,000. At the funeral services the distribution of garlands, accord- 
ing to caste, is an important feature of the proceedings and the cause 
of bitter jealousies. The "Gooroo," or spiritual guide, and the " puno- 
hit," officiating priest, are always most honored, the only question being 
as to how much. 

At the feasts given to the Brahmans, and others, the guests place 
themselves on grass seats in long rows, in the court yard, and if the 
householder is wealthy they do not commence to eat until the number 
reaches two or three hundred. Each guest is provided with a piece of 
plaintain leaf and an earthen plate, and upon these receptacles are 
placed the fruits and sweetmeats. In spite of the utmost vigilance 
Hindus of the lower castes, decently dressed but poor, and willing to 
strive after a free lunch, often enter the court yard and obtain shares 
destined for the privileged class. They are not killed, however, as of 
yore, but are simply ejected ; and, says a native, " some of the Brah- 
mans who are invited do not scruple to take a portion home, regardless 
of the contaminated touch of a person of the lowest order, simply be- 
cause the temptation is too strong to be resisted." 

THE SACRED CITY. 

Next to the river, Benares is the natural object of the Hindus 
greatest veneration. Ruins found in the vicinity of the city, of palaces, 
mosques and temples, indicate that there was a Benares of far greater 
antiquity than the present; the Hindus believe it to have been founded 



334 



THE world's fair. 



at the creation of the world. To die within its limits is to be sure of 
heaven. The waters of the Ganges are far holier in Benares than else- 
where. Along the terraced river-side fires are continually burning, on 
which smolder the bodies of the recent dead. Sacred bulls roam through 
its narrow streets, and from the temples dedicated to Doorga, troop 
forth hundreds of sacred yellow monkeys. 






THE CHINESE 



N China, Thibet, Siam and Burmah are to be found the purest 
specimens of that Mongol race whose branches spread over 
Asia and Eastern Europe. As Medes, Scythians, Huns, 
Mongols and Tartars, this people have appeared in history- 
spreading their names and their individualities over the world. 
The blood of the race courses in the veins of wandering tribes 
from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, and of permanent 
empires of which it is a basis two still exist which are among 
the most widely extended of the world — the Turkish in the 
west and the Chinese in the east. 



A BEWILDERING ANTIQUITY. 

The Turks are the result of various mingling of races, Avith the 
Mongol predominating, but the Chinese seem to have shot east at once, 
and to have been the flourishing and peculiar people they are to-day, 
nearly four thousand years ago. As a nation they have been traced 
into such remote periods of time as to fairly bewilder the ethnologist, 
and force him at times to rest unsatisfied in his labors. The one theory 
Is that they are an offshoot from the parent stem which grew in Western 
Asia, and the other that they emigrated, before history was, from the 
suppositious continent of Lemuria, now sunk beneath the waters of the 
Indian Ocean. Upon the latter supposition the Mongols would have 
spread into Siam and Burmah and China, and while some of the race 
settled in Southeastern Asia, the restless or weaker portion commenced 
to wander west and north. 

Certain it is that here, and especially in China, is the pure type of 
a distinct race. As has been well said: "It is inhabited by more than 
400,000,000 of the human race, living under the same goverment, ruled 
by the same laws, speaking the same language, studying the same liter- 
ature, possessing a greater homogeneity, a history extending over a 
longer period and a more enduring national existence than any other 
people whether of ancient or modern times; indeed when we consider its 

335 



336 



THE world's fair. 



high antiquity, its peculiar civihzation, its elaborate administrative ma- 
chinery, its wondrous language and classic literature, its manufacturing 
industry and natural productions, China is perhaps the most remarkable 
country in the world." Here then, in their native land, packed closely 
into a territory two-thirds as large as the United States, this mysterious 
people, with their yellow skin, coarse hair, thin beard, depressed nose, 
oblique eyes, thin eyebrows, large ears and lips, and low, flat forehead, 
calmly live and thrive; passionless yet industrious; practical yet literary; 
peaceable, domestic, frugal-their existence flowing on and on, compa- 
ratively unrufifled by outside storms, like their beloved river, the Yang- 
tse-Kiang, or Son of the Ocean. 

NEGLECT OF NATURAL ADVANTAGES. 



The two great rivers of China come tumbling down together from 
the table-lands of Central Asia, where each of them meets a range of 




RiVER SCENE IN CHINA. 

mountains, and one is diverted to the north and the other to the south. 
Their acquired impetus seems to force them to describe an immense cir- 
cuit, so that they are separated by an interval of over one thousand 
miles, one directing its course toward the cold north and the other to- 
ward the tropics. But suddenly they again approach each other, almost 
join hands, and finally empty into the Yellow Sea only a hundred miles 
apart. The area of their two basins is estimated at nearly a million 
square miles, the Yellow River being useless, however, for purposes of 
navigation. 

The grand canal traversing Northeastern China, the grand wall 
aloncr its northern borders— both of these are immense but imperfect. 



BASIS OF THE STATE. ;^27 

From Pekin in the north to Hangchow in the south is the great plain 
of China, six hundred by three hundred miles, and which has suffered, 
from time immemorial, from the floods of her great rivers. Nature has 
done her work on a grand scale, and the people, had they the mechanical 
genius of the American or the European, would promptly bind the loose- 
jointed empire into one stupendous, compact body. 

The Chinese, however, have been devoting themselves to the task 
of building up a system of popular education and establishing the social 
structure of their great country, and have neglected to perfect the 
material advantages of the empire. Such neglect may be excusable in 
them, when the historic student remembers that when Western civiliza- 
tion was unborn they were using the compass, gunpowder, paper and 
printing; that though divided into three religious sects, each vies in 
charity with the others; that among all classes courtesy is the study 
and practice of life ; that since they were known to history they have 
been setting to the world a continued example of temperance in eating 
and drinking, and finally, notwithstanding their neglect of natural and 
artificial water-ways, that there is probably a greater amount of tonnage 
belonging to the Chinese than to all other nations combined. 

BASIS OF THE STATE. 

Education is the sure passport to distinction in China and, if desired, 
to public preferment. So it matters not what the future career of the 
youth is to be, his first aim is to pass his examination. The result is 
that a knowledge of the common branches is all but universal, although 
there is not such a general diffusion of knowledge as in many other 
countries whose districts would show a lamentable number who could not 
read and write. Each Chinese word has its symbol, and many a mer- 
chant who may be at home when dealing with his own articles would not 
be able to read an ordinary book. The number of adult males who can 
read the classical books, it is said, is not more than three in a hundred ; 
of women one in a thousand. The province of literature is open to 
women, so that authors among that sex are not rare. 

Although fostered by the state in every possible way, the cause of 
education is not left to run alone at this point ; but the "sons of high 
officers of state, and Mantchoos of noble birth resort to a national 
institution established for them at Pekin, They receive instruction in 
the Chinese, Mongolian and Mantchurian languages." 

The teachings of the Chinese from the earliest times have tended 
to develop in them those manners in life which are particularly adapted 
to intellectual pursuits . Moderation in all things has ever been their 



338 THE world's fair. 

watch-word — a simple diet and a simple life. Although they have 1)een 
the pioneers in some of the true inventions of the age, they have left 
them to more practical people to perfect. Two or three centuries 
before Christ they built the most stupendous work of defense which the 
world ever saw. Since the erection of the great wall, with its fifteen 
hundred miles of brick and granite, they have done nothing of moment 
in this line. The Tartars did not fairly make their way over the wall 
until fourteen centuries after it was built, but although at one time the 
empire was divided into three kingdoms and convulsed with civil and 
religious dissensions, the bulk of the Chinese were not affected, but 
continued to study Confucius and other philosophers, leaving the 
quarreling to the distinctive military classes. 

A Buddhist priest overthrew the Mongolian dynasty, and for nearly 
three centuries his successors ruled with a steady hand. In the middle 
of the seventeenth century the Mantchoo dynasty, which is now in power, 
overturned the Chinese and imposed the pig-tail upon them, which had 
long been a Tartar characteristic. 

The Mantchoos are the Southern Tungooses, the northern branch, 
the wanderers of Siberia, evincing little of their ability. They occupy their 
old country (Mantchooria) which is now a province of China, and also 
constitute the military class of the empire. The Mantchoos divide the 
civil government with the conquered race, who are ostensibly satisfied 
with the arrangement. As long as the new Mongolian dynasty is mod- 
erate in its views, the Chinese will revere the Emperor as "the only man," 
as he designates himself, or, perchance, the Son of Heaven. They will 
philosophically accept the ruler who is sent them, continue their study 
of Confucius, and glide along a few more centuries without marked 
change. Rulers may change and dynasties may overturn one another, 
but, to judge from the past four thousand years, it is impossible to con- 
ceive of the Chinese being under any other form of government than a 
monarchical and a patriarchal, which is best adapted to their literary 
habits. 

Under their form of government, connected with education, the 
Chinese have become a most good-humored as well as a peaceable people. 
As a race there is perhaps no other that comes so near applying the 
one rule of life laid down by Confucius : " Do not unto others what you 
would not have them do to you." Of the sixteen lectures from his 
Sacred Institutions, periodically delivered to the people, the second is 
"On Union and Concord among Kindred" ; the third " On Concord and 
Agreement among Neighbors"; the ninth "On Mutual Forbearance " i 
the sixteenth " On Reconcillno; Animosities." 



CHINESE DOCTRINES. 339 

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE. 

All that the government requires of any religious sect is that it shall 
acknowledge the civil supremacy of the empire ; this obtained, and Bud- 
dhists, Mohammedans, Roman Catholics, Nestorians and Protestants are 
allowed the privileges of free worship. Religious tolerance is shown, 
also, in the peculiarly impartial attitude which the government assumes 
toward the different sects in the matter of an official worship of some 
gods common to Buddhism and to Taouism, and in the way of the finan- 
cial patronage which it bestows upon Lamaist, Buddhist and Taouist 
temples as well as upon the heads of the churches. In fact, the tolerant, 
peaceful spirit of Confucianism has been brought to bear upon the posi- 
tion of the government toward the sects and of the sects toward each 
other. The majority of people would apply the word indifference to such 
-an attitude ; and it is true that the Chinese have no such word as religion. 
They have doctrines but no religions. 

CHINESE DOCTRINES. 

The cursory view which has thus been taken of the scholar and the 
politician of China indicates how thoroughly Confucianism has permeated 
society in the state. The doctrine most prominent in this practical sys- 
tem is that of filial piety. Confucius founded the state upon the family; 
in reverencing the father the Chinese youth reverences the Emperor, and 
disobedience to parents is the first step toward rebellion against the 
government. Acts of self-denial on the part of the child are, therefore, 
equivalent to acts of patriotism, which uphold the entire grand structure. 
Sons go to prison and into banishment for offenses committed by their 
parents and grandparents. In pursuance of native medical practice 
children allow pieces of flesh to be cut from their bodies and prepared 
with various ingredients, which are given to their sick parents that they 
may be restored to health. The government itself takes advantage of 
this sentiment, and when it is unable to capture offenders, endeavors to 
seize upon the bodies of their parents, and even though the criminals 
may be of the most hardened character, it is seldom that they will allow 
the aged ones to suffer for them. 

Ancestral worship is a similar element of Confucianism, which has done 
much to maintain the Chinese structure of society and state. It matters 
not how humble the dwelling, each has its shrine to which the members 
of the family repair to worship, or invoke the spirits of those who have 
gone before. To either the ancestral hall or the tomb, all repair to 
seek guidance or to obtain commendation for past deeds. 



340 THE world's fair. 

The most splendid exhibition of ancestral worship is of course given 
by the Emperor and his mandarins when they congregate in the temple 
of imperial ancestors at Pekin. Sages, heroes and benefactors are 
also canonized and brought into the large congregation of gods, whom 
the Chinese worship upon all occasions. Confucius, "the most holy 
teacher of ancient times," has thus become a god. 

Confucius himself, intensely practical though he was, brought many 
gods of nature into being, conspicuous among whom was the Dragon 
King. His Great Extreme has been resolved by the Chinese into their 
Supreme God, of whom they have never made an image. 

However the Chinese may disagree as to religious systems, they 
are unanimous in their worship of Confucius. Twice a month services are 
held in his honor throughout the empire, and twice annually every officer 
of the government, including the Emperor, attends special services in 
the Confucian temple which is found in every provincial, prefectoral and 
district city. The temples are all alike, each being approached by a 
triple gateway, at either side of which is a pillar. Within the court yard 
is a pond of pure water, emblematic of Confucian doctrines. Passing- 
through another triple gateway one enters the temple, divided into two 
quadrangles, in the first of which stands the altar of Confucius, with his 
name engraved upon a red tablet above it. On either side of the quad- 
rangle are shrines and tablets, in memory of his seventy-two disciples and 
others who have made themselves famous as expounders of his doctrines. 
Beyond the altars of the sage and his disciples is the shrine which 
honors his parents and grandparents. Attached also to each temple 
are halls whose tablets are of a local character, recording the names of 
great benefactors, sages, virtuous women, good officials, and sons and 
grandsons renowned for their filial piety. Occasionally an unworthy 
name will creep in, but it is not allowed to rest in peace. In the hall of 
one of the temples the tablet of a man had been placed who was more 
noted for his mercantile than his scholarly or pious character. The city 
officials refusing to remove it, upon a petition of learned men, the griev- 
ance was brought to the attention of the governor, who dispatched a 
commissioner to the scene of disturbance. Upon investigation, the 
commissioner agreed with the learned gentlemen that the name dishon- 
ored the shrine, and ordered the removal of the tablet. A cord was 
therefore tied around it, as if it were some disgraceful being, and it was 
dragged far beyond the precincts of the temple of wisdom. 

The Confucian temple at Pekin is a magnificent structure, elabor- 
ately decorated, with a vaulted roof of blue. Rows of cedar trees, cen- 
turies old, adorn the court-yard. But more ancient than these, by nearly 



I 



CHINESE DOCTRINES. 34I 

two-score centuries, are ten stone drums, or tablets, upon which are 
engraved stanzas of poetry, said to have been written in the days of 
Yaou and Shun, 2357 and 2258 B. C, and who are among the most rev- 
ered founders of Chinese civiHzation and progenitors of Confucianism. 
So sacred are they that they have always been kept in the royal city. 

Taouism is a form of religion which has been developed by the 
power of Buddhism, Its founder was Laou-tsze, the son of poor parents, 
and In manhood keeper of the government archives. These practical 
duties were ill suited to his contemplative disposition, and he retired to his 
native hills to reflect and philosophize. His celebrated work, Taou-tih- 
King, contained both traces of the ancient Hindu religion (before it 
had degenerated into Brahmanism) and of Buddhism. The author was 
mystical as to whether his Taou was to be considered as a Supreme 
Principle or a Supreme Being; but made himself plain in expounding 
his doctjrine that virtue consisted in losing sight of one's self in the uni- 
verse and, by contemplation, of returning to the bosom of Eternal 
Reason. He taught the hollowness of worldly things ; that virtue is 
all ; that man should go through life as if he owned nothing, and love 
his enemies as well as his friends. Laou-tsze was a remarkable philoso- 
pher, providing for the spiritual wants of man ; he commenced where 
Confucius concluded, and as he had listened at court to the teachings 
of that wonderful worldly sage, his thoughtful mind penetrated to the 
defects of his system. 

But the Taouists, in their ambition to hold their ground against the 
Buddhists, shamefully perverted his doctrine. They not only deified 
Laou-tsze and opposed him to Lord Buddha, but provided a god to meet 
every want of the people. Did they worship wealth and longevity, the 
Taouists made gods representing them. Did they fall down in admira- 
tion before a great warrior they found in him the incarnation of the god 
of war. They were ready to go to the depths of Chinese superstition, 
and provide priests to drive ghosts from haunted houses or evil spirits 
from human bodies. Did the ghost or ghoul disobey the commands 
of the priests, although they set before it tables heaped with pork, fowl 
and rice, they threatened to despatch a letter to the gods of the infernal 
regions. 

The Archabbot, who is at the head of the Church, is second only to 
the Emperor in actual power and is much the same mysterious creature 
as the Grand Lama of Thibet. The Taouists affirm that upon the 
death of their generalissimo, his successor is chosen by the Trinity of 
their faith ; the officer is chosen from the members of a certain family, the 
names of the survivors being engraved upon pieces of lead, which are 



342 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

placed in a vase filled with water, and that which is divinely favored 
rises to the surface. Candidates for the priesthood devote five years 
to study, but usually confine their labors to works on astrology and 
alchemy ; few of them are acquainted witli the philosophical writings of 
Laou-tsze. 

The corruptions of Buddhism are even more strongly marked in 
China than elsewhere; the field of investigation is so vast — and 
throughout its length and breadth idolatry is its most marked feature. 
If Buddha (or "the Buddha," as devotees fondly call their Incarnation) is 
cognizant of the lengths to which his religious system have gone he will 
not desire to return in the great cycle of being to his former state — or, 
it may be, that he would long to return that he might lay about him 
with the ponderous axe of a giant reformer. 

The Chinese Trinity of Buddhism is Buddha Past (represented by 
Gautama himself), Buddha Present (the perfect state of Heaven upon 
earth, such as many true Buddhists attain), and Buddha Future (the 
coming Messiah, or Incarnation of the Supreme Essence of Buddhism.) 
Few there are who can hope to attain to Buddha Past ; but many strive 
after that state of being by secluding themselves in caves and giving their 
whole being over to meditation, or by submitting themselves to terrible 
forms of bodily mutilation. The Buddhist monasteries are constructed 
upon a uniform plan, the two outer gates being in charge of two huge gods ; 
under the second gateway are four figures representing the North, South, 
East and West of China and are supposed to assist Buddha in his 
various plans for the good of the people — to give him free entrance to 
the empire ; and beyond, in the main hall, are the idols of the Trinity. 
In the rear of the hall, in the center of the temple. Is the " dagoba," or 
depository for the relics of Buddha, a hair, a tooth, a portion of his 
dress, etc., etc. On each side of the large court yards in which the 
principal halls of the temple are erected are rows of cells for the monks, 
a visitors' hall, a refectory, and, sometimes a printing office, where the 
services used by the priests, new works on the tenets of Buddhism and 
tracts for general distribution are printed. 

" In some of the temples the idols are very numerous, and in Yang- 
chow-Foo there is one in which there are said to be no fewer than ten 
thousand. The idols, which are very diminutive, are contained in one 
large hall, and in their fanciful, but orderly arrangement, present a very 
singular appearance. In the center of the hall stands a pavilion of wood, 
most elaborately carved, upon which is placed a large idol of Buddha. 
The pavilion within and without is literally studded with small idols 
which are, I believe, different representations of the same deity. On 



CHINESE DOCTRINES. 343 

each of the four sides of the hall are small brackets supporting idols of 
Buddha, and a still larger number of these are placed on the beams and 
pillars of the vaulted roof. Two are full-sized figures of the sleeping 
Buddha. At Pekin and Canton there are halls precisely similar." 

Attached to nearly every monastery or temple of prominence is 
some sort of an enclosure for the preservation of animals which have 
been presented to idols of Buddha, the devotee having made a vow to 
preserve their lives and then placed them in the keeping of the monks. 
The animals thus become sacred. They may consist of a large sty of 
sleek pigs ; a large poultry yard of fowls, ducks and geese ; a pen con- 
taining sheep, goats, horned cattle, or horses and mules ; an artificial 
pond of fish rescued from the market ; a tank of huge tortoises — 
but in every case they are tenderly cared for, and when death comes 
their remains are religiously consigned to mother earth and their souls go 
climbing up the ladder of existence. This feature of the religion 
Buddha himself would commend. 

As has been stated, Mohammedanism has also obtained a foothold 
in China. The degraded forms of Taouism and Buddhism are, in fact, 
losing their hold upon the Chinese. Confucianism and Taouism sprung 
up in the sixth century B.C., Buddhism was brought from India during 
the first, and Mohammedanism did not come in until the seventh century 
after Christ. Christianity can not be said, as yet, to be firmly established 
in China. Whatever may be said of the comparative merits of the 
religions which have obtained a foothold, it is certain that Mohammed- 
anism has been best maintained according to the original standard. 
Five times daily does the Chinese Moham.medan pray looking toward 
Mecca, he washes his hands before presuming to handle the Koran, he 
observes the great fast of Ramadan, and Chinaman, though he be, 
abstains from the use of swine's flesh. His mosques are numerous, 
though they are Chinese in their architecture. The maternal uncle of 
the prophet is supposed to have introduced Mohammedanism into 
China. After a residence of fifteen years in his adopted land, he died in 
Canton, where his tomb may be seen in one of the great mosques which 
he built. 

Confucianism, having for its prime object the establishment of the 
principle of submission to the father and the Emperor upon the basis of 
virtue, no outward assurance is required of its loyal tendency. 
Buddhism and Taouism and Mohammedanism, however, with their 
grand lamas, their grand archabbots and their grand muftis, are obliged 
to furnish evidence of their good intentions by placing in each temple 
or mosque a tablet, near the high altar, upon which is inscribed in large 
letters, " May the Emperor reign ten thousand years." 



344 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

CHINESE GODS. 

As the military and the learned classes are the two distinct bodies 
of the Chinese people, there must be gods who stand as the representa- 
tives of their spirit. Kwan-te, a distinguished Chinese general, had 
been dead nearly 800 years when the salt wells of a large province dried 
up and caused millions of people much distress. The Emperor and his 
ministers, in their helplessness, consulted the Archabbot of the Taouists 
who suggested an appeal to Kwan-te who reigned, it is true, as a king 
in the world of spirits. His Imperial Majesty sent a dispatch to him, 
and the spirit hero appeared in mid-heaven riding on his great red 
charger, and insisted as the price of his assistance that a temple be erected 
to him. The structure was thrown together with great haste, and the 
salt wells at once yielded their welcome supplies. From that day on 
Kwan-te was elevated to the rank of a god, who leads the imperial troops 
in war and protects the millions of Chinese homes. His worship is con- 
fined to government officials. 

Mau-chang, a precocious literary character, as well as a lover of 
virtue has been deified into the god of learning, who keeps a divine record 
of the learned and the virtuous. His temples and idols are in all the 
principal cities of the empire, and collegiates anxious about their degrees 
and parents ambitious for the welfare of their children offer him -bundles 
of onions to obtain his favor. Through the priesthood, also, he 
prophesies regarding national calamities. 

The Dragon King holds in his keeping the wind, rain, thunder and 
lightning of nature. In seasons of drought the district ruler supplicates 
his idol. If the King fails to respond, the prefect tries his persuasive 
powers, and if the god will hear neither, the governor-general, dressed 
in sackcloth and his neck and ankles humbly fettered, heads a sorrowful 
procession which moves toward the temple. The four banners of yellow 
silk, inscribed with the words wind, rain, thunder and lightning, are 
placed upon the altar of the god, after which the governor-general con- 
signs his written supplication to sacred flames, and retires amidst the 
firing of crackers, the beating of gongs and cymbals and other unearthly 
noise calculated to influence the tumultuous god of nature. If after all 
this homage he is implacable the Archabbot is called upon to offer 
prayers, and if welcome rain is still withheld the Archabbot's salary is 
also withheld by the Emperor. 

The temples erected to the Dragon King are often thronged with 
peasants, who appear, with wreaths of weeping willow bound around 
their heads, that the god will grant them a few satisfactory showers. 



DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 345 

Shing Wong is a great idol who annually receives a new silk gown 
from the government or some wealthy family and has his face washed 
by the prefect himself. The god has a stone and a copper seal, and 
when his votaries come to do him homage, clothes of the sick or sheets 
•of yellow paper are stamped with them that the feeble may be strength- 
■ened and evil spirits warded off. Shing Wong employs some cruel 
implements of torture upon evil spirits, which are exhibited in several 
of his temples, and both they and his judicial proceedings are very 
similar to those which are in vogue in the criminal courts of the empire. 

The ten kingdoms of the Buddhist hell are each presided over by 
a god, who punishes certain classes of offenses with a variety of tortures 
such as the imaginations of men have created from Greece to China and 
from Rome to America. 

Pih-te, or Pak-tai, is the beneficent god of the Chinese, who existed 
before the world was, became incarnate, and, after a probation of 500 
years, ascended to heaven to sit in a chariot of many colors and be at- 
tended by angels and fair women. It was after this, in the reign of 
Taou (2357 B. C.) that, according to Chinese annals, the earth was 
destroyed by a deluge. Twice thereafter Pih-te reappeared to guide 
the people and the state, and to wage war against the spirit of evil. 
Merchants about to take ventures, partners about to make important 
business statements, master and servants wishing to ratify their agree- 
ments, persons desiring to declare their innocence of crimes charged 
against them, all repair to his temple for advice or to make their most 
solemn and binding oaths. 

The Queen of Heaven is a canonized girl who protects fishermen 
and sailors from the fury of the storms, and the Goddess of Mercy pro- 
tects the souls as well as the bodies of mankind. Kum-fa is the tutelary 
goddess of women and children, and she has twenty attendants who at- 
tend to the details. The Five Genii preside over fire, earth, water, 
metal and wood, and the Great Sage of the Whole Heavens, of whom 
there is an idol in their temples, is a canonized monkey who was hatched 
from a bowlder, and became first human and then superhuman ! 

DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 

From the character which centuries of education have developed in 
the Chinese, it would follow that their domestic and social relations 
would be accompanied with much ceremony and apparent coolness. But 
they are not a cold people, although they have been taught to restrain 
their feelings. Custom confines the women quite closely to their hom^-s, 
and the practice of unnaturally contracting the feet, which was originally 



346 THE world's fair. 

adopted to stamp them as a superior order of beings from the large- 
footed women of Tartary, prevents them from moving around much in 
their houses. The ladies of the better classes principally employ them- 
selves in embroidering and painting on silk. Music is also a favorite 
accomplishment. 

Chinese music is, however, most painful to Western ears. Upon 
the occasions of native weddings in American cities, specimens of it 
have been heard, which accord with the following description : " The 
gong is the type of Chinese music ; a crashing harangue of rapid blows- 
upon it, with a rattling accompaniment of small drums, and a crackling 
symphony of shrill notes from the clarionet and cymbal, constitute the 
chief features of their musical performances. Their vocal music is 
generally on a high falsetto key, somewhere between a squeal and a 
screatn." 

The Chinese are extremely fond of the drama, a branch of which, to- 
their minds, is dancing. Elevating it, as they do, to such a height, they 
consider it presumptuous to dance themselves, but allow that honor only 
to professionals. The drama proper, although popular, is not of a very 
elevating nature. Women are excluded from the stage, their parts being 
taken by boys or eunuchs. In the northern and eastern provinces perma- 
nent theatres are to be found, but usually the actors are invited to private- 
houses and paid for each performance. In every large dwelling and in 
nearly every inn there is a hall set apart for this purpose, and along the 
rivers and great canals, numerous strolling parties live in barges. As a 
rule the actors are the slaves of the manager ; for to purchase a free child 
for the purpose of educating him as an actor is punished by a hundred 
strokes of the bamboo, and no free female is allowed to marry into that 
class. 

One of the most common causes for the punishment which the son 
of China brings upon himself is gambling. It is all but universal. The 
youthful Chinaman is often found attired in very scant costume, having 
pledged his articles of clothing in some game of chance ; and when the 
foreigner sees a struggling urchin being dragged through the streets by 
his stern father,the reason for his predicament may be inferred with tol- 
erable certainty. 

Next to gambling the Chinese are addicted to processions, public 
shows and festivals, with accompanying feasts. The new-year's time, the 
festival of the dragon boats, the feast of lanterns, the fisherman's festi- 
val, etc., are occasions of general rejoicing and merry-making. Friendly 
contests of strength, such as elevating or tossing heavy weights, they 
also enjoy ; but it would be considered quite beneath their dignity to 



THE LOVAL DRESS. 347 

countenance prize fights or wrestling matches, and even to place profes- 
sional gladiators among the nobility, as do the Japanese. 

THE LOYAL DRESS. 

The native Chinese costume, although not graceful to European 
eyes, combines warmth with ease. Silk, cotton and linen in summer, with 
padded cotton garments for the poor, and furs and skins for the rich in 
winter ; the robes usually light but compact, the shoes with thick felt 
soles to exclude moisture and cold — what more common-sense ideas 
could be combined in dress? The garments of the two sexes do not 
differ materially, except in color. 

The tail is now universally worn by Chinese males, the only general 
exceptions being found among the Buddhist priests, who shave their 
heads, and the Taouist priests who let their hair grow long, as do also 
many of the independent tribes of the mountains. The pig-tail has 
become the symbol of loyalty, and when, during the present century, a 
defeated literary candidate and a fanatic headed the Taiping rebellion 
against the government, the first of his many complaints was "that the 
Chinese from the outset had their own style of wearing the hair ; but 
these Mantchoos have compelled them to shave their heads and wear a 
long tail, so as greatly to resemble the commonest beast." 

THEY REFUSE TO SHAVE THE HEAD. 

The aboriginal tribes whom the Tartars could not conquer are 
scattered in the mountainous districts of the entire empire. Some of 
them acknowledge the authority of the Emperor sufficiently to receive 
his mandarins as their principal officers, but they are always selected 
from among the most prominent members of the tribes. It is a custom 
of most of these primitive people to select New Year's Day as the day 
when matrimonial alliances are to be entered into. The fairs, which 
are held in the court-yards of temples, are thronged with young men and 
maidens, who are continually pairing off, resorting to the temples to 
worship the idol and then hastening to the girl's parents to sign the 
necessary documents. From seven to ten years after marriage the 
young man resides with his father-in-law. The first-born is presented to 
the parents of the husband as a sacred offering and the second-born goes 
to the father-in-law. Among some of the tribes it is the duty of the 
father to attend to all the children and grand-children to the extent 
of his means, and when he is buried the face of the corpse is twisted 
around to indicate that he is still watching over their welfare from the 
Great Beyond. 



;4o 



THE WORLDS FAIR. 



The body will not be allowed to rest in peace for any length of time, 
for the relatives will be anxious to ascertain their future fortune by its 
state of preservation ; or they will desire to carefully clean the bones of 
the corpse, that their health may be preserved. The tribe which follows 
this latter custom is called bone-washers. A few of the tribes burn 
the bodies of the dead, and the widows ascend the pyre with their 
husbands as did those of India in the old days. 

To avert pestilence and 
other misfortunes from the tribe 
various measures are adopted. 
One of them is for the wealthy 
members to pay a certain sum to 
a poor family, in consideration 
for which the father agrees to 
offer himself as the regular 
yearly sacrifice to the idol of the 
dog. A great banquet is given, 
every one drinks freely of wine, 
and the victim, after getting more 
intoxicated than the others, is 
put to death before the altar. 
Another practice is for the man, 
who has besmeared himself with 
paint, and by his contortions, with 
priestly assistance,attracted pesti- 
lence, disease and misfortune, to 
be driven from the village as a 
scapegoat. The remembrances 
and bad effects of the past year are 
annihilated throughthe agency of 
a large earthenware jar, which is 
filled with gunpowder, stones and 
pieces of iron, buried in the earth, 
and exploded in the midst of 
much rejoicing and conviviality. 
The aborigines are not all savages, although as superstitious as 
their civilized brethren who wear the pig-tails. They are good agricul- 
turists, breeders of cattle, manufacturers and dyers of cloth. The 
wildest of the tribes are found in the island of Formosa, northeast of 
Canton, and the island of Hainan, southwest of that city. In the north 
of Formosa the savages cover only their loins, and indiscriminately 




A SCENE IN CHINA. 



CHINESE HOUSES. 349 

slaughter all Chinese and foreigners who cross their paths. The boldest 
tribes of Hainan are not only as cruel and quarrelsome as they, but are 
the most expert thieves living, so that Vv^hen they visit the markets, at 
certain hours of the day, the grounds more resemble a military encamp- 
ment than a mart of trade. Soldiers armed with spears are quartered 
in barracks not far distant, and when the market is closed the aborigines 
are ordered home. 

The laws in force for the suppression of this turbulent element of 
the empire, and its eventual absorption by the law-loving bulk of the 
population, consist of provisions against extortion by the Chinese mer. 
chant ; forbidding the aborigines to bear fire arms or the Chinese black- 
smith to make arms for them ; promising free pardon to any Chinese 
who shall kill an aboriginal who does not conform to the law by which, 
if protected by the government, he shall throw aside his rude orna- 
ments, shave his head, and adopt civilized dress and manners ; and 
obliging the native rulers to teach the aborigines the arts of industry and 
to report monthly to the ruler of the district within the frontiers of which 
the tribe is located. 

Many of the primitive tribes are also found in the district through 
which the upper Hoang cuts its way. This is called the " loess " country, 
the name being given to it by a German Baron, who thus designated the 
peculiar yellow deposit through which the river pours, and which has 
caused it to be called the Yellow River. The table-lands have been cut 
into deep gorges, and at the foot of the vertical cliffs, far below the level 
of the plain, the people build their houses and villages, rear their families, 
their swine and chickens, live and die. 

CHINESE HOUSES. 

" Chinese architecture is entirely different from that of any other 
country. The general form of the houses is that of a tent ; those of the 
lower classes are slight, small and of little cost. All are formed on the 
model of the primitive Tartar dwellings ; but even in the great cities a 
traveler might fancy himself — from the low houses, with carved, over- 
hanging roofs, uninterrupted by a single chimney, and from the pillars, 
poles, streamers and flags — to be in the midst of a large encampment. 
The fronts of the shops are covered with varnish and gilding and painted 
in brilliant colors. The streets of Canton, and of most of the cities, are 
extremely narrow, admitting only three or four foot-passengers abreast ; 
but the principal thoroughfares of Pekin are fully one hundred feet in 
width. The rooms — even those occupied by the Emperor' — are small 
and little ornamented." 



350 THE world's fair. 

CHINESE MARRIAGES. 

As a people, the Chinese are not polygamists ; where polygamy does 
occur, among the wealthier classes, it may be said to almost invariably 
spring from the motive of the man to have a numerous offspring who 
shall do his name honor in the ancestral hall. His desire also is that his 
children shall be sons, for, at each stage of their literary and worldly 
advancement, they do not fail to present the customary offerings and 
inscribe their new honor upon the family record. The premature death 
of a son is therefore not only the occasion of profound grief, but is looked 
upon as a contraction of the family greatness. The wives, on the other 
hand, though as proud of family honors as their husbands, are said to be 
strenuously opposed to polygamy. In short, there are whole families, in 
the upper grades of life, in which the ladies positively refuse to marry, 
for fear that they may be called upon to suffer the pangs of envy, jeal- 
ousy and hatred occasioned by this state of married life. To avoid 
marriage some become Buddhist or Taouist nuns, and others prefer death 
itself to marriage. During the reign of a former king, fifteen virgins, 
whom their parents had affianced, met together upon learning the 
fact, and resolved to commit suicide. They flung themselves into a trib- 
utary stream of the Canton River in the vicinity of the village where they 
lived, and their tomb is still called " The Tomb of the Virgins." At 
another village. In 1873, eight young girls clothed themselves in their 
best attire, bound themselves together and threw themselves into ihft 
Canton River in order to avoid marriage. 

Another cause of this dread evinced by girls for the married state, 
is that parents do all the match-making for both sons and daughters. 
How great a misfortune this distastefulness is considered maybe realized 
when one learns of the eagerness with which marriage is pressed by the 
parents ; in short, the most delicate and sickly children are looked upon 
as the fittest subjects for early marriages, for their days, in all proba- 
bility, will be short, and there is all the more necessity for haste in the 
matter. And where parents are old and feeble, and have marriageable 
children, they are in constant trepidation lest they shall close their eyes 
in death upon bachelors and old maids. 

It often happens that marriages occur so early in life that the 
couples are separated and live with their respective parents until they 
arrive at a proper age. A shocking case of one of these forced mar- 
riages, which was prompted by a desire to comply with the parental wish, 
is that of a young man and woman in the humble walks of life, which 
was solemnized at the house of the bridegroom's mother, who, at the 



FILIAL OBEDIENCE AND RESPECT. 35I 

time, was lying at the point of death. The couple were made man and 
wife, but when the wedding garment was removed from the bride it was 
discovered that she was a leper. 

Before the parents consent to the betrothal of a couple, they con- 
sult the spirits of their ancestors by placing upon the family altar the 
documents which set forth the date of their births and the maiden 
names of the mothers. If the blessing of the departed is obtained, the 
services of the astrologer are next engaged. There are afterwards many 
passings to and fro, by those who are conducting the affair, bearing let- 
ters from father to father, and live pigs or wild geese and ganders, 
which are placed upon the ancestral altars, as offerings to family pride 
and bonds of union. The significance of the wild goose and gander is 
that the same pair of birds is said to remain united through life ; 
they are therefore emblems of marital constancy. A presentation of 
silks to the bride-elect by the parents of the youth, followed by banquets, 
precedes the selection of the marriage day. In the case of the com- 
mon mortal, a single astrologer is consulted, but if the Emperor is to be 
married the naming of the propitious day is referred to the Royal Board 
of Astronomy. When the day has been fixed, presents of sheep, geese and 
pots of wine are exchanged, in accordance with the rank of the parents 
of the contracted parties. The month previous to the marriage is de- 
voted by the lady and her female friends and attendants to lamentations 
at her coming removal from her father's house, the night immediately 
preceding being especially set apart for weeping and wailing. 

Notwithstanding this precaution of taking time by the forelock, and 
mourning for possible misfortunes, the life of the average Chinese family 
is peaceful and happy, and there are few disobedient sons to be punished 
with the severity for which the parents of the empire have become 
noted. The first wife controls the household, if polygamy is one of its 
features. She is " the moon," the secondary wives are " the stars," and 
they all revolve around the "sun." The first wife, or "tsy," is distin- 
guished by a title, espoused with ceremonials, and chosen from a rank in 
life totally different from the " tsie," or handmaids. 

FILIAL OBEDIENCE AND RESPECT. 

All foreigners have noticed that filial obedience and respect, not to 
say love, are prominent traits of the Chinese character. When the 
social customs of the people, however, are carefully examined, consider- 
able doubt arises as to how much of this feeling comes from fear or 
natural affection. The Chinese have not only absolute control over 
their youngest children, but exercise a sort of police supervision over even 



352 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

their elder sons and daughters. This pecuHarity is evinced more strongly 
in the case of daughters than of sons. One will see not only mothers 
throwing their disobedient children into the river, and sometimes drown- 
ing them in their anger, but parents beating their married daughters ; 
and it is a not uncommon sight to see mothers chastising drunken or 
otherwise disreputable sons who have arrived at almost middle age. 
Further than this, the punishment inflicted upon men and women by 
their parents is often continuous and partakes of the nature of prisori 
discipline. In the residences of those of wealth and standing, a son 
whose propensities are distasteful will often be found shackled, and 
heavy weights attached to his ankles, being kept for days in solitary 
confinement. 

When parental discipline does not avail, the father seizes the son, 
and, with the assistance of his servants, drags him through the streets to 
the "cangue" or gaol. The sons are frequently banished to distant 
provinces, and, if the mother does not intercede for their pardon (for 
mothers are the same in all lands), they often live and die in remote 
parts of the empire. 

The punishments meted out to children who abuse or murder their 
parents, sometimes extend to many generations. The laws in this 
regard are very similar to those which prevailed among the Israelites ; 
among them children convicted of cursing or assaulting their parents 
were put to death. A case is mentioned in China, where a son, aided 
by his wife, severely beat his mother, and both offenders were decapi- 
tated. The mother of the son's wife was flogged and sent into exile, for 
she had committed not only a sin but had outraged the teachings of all 
the founders of Chinese civilization, since she had not effectively instilled 
into her daughter's mind the principles of filial piety. Furthermore, 
the punishment extended to the magistrates of the district, who v/ere 
banished from the country. The innocent students, even, were forbidden 
to attend the literary examinations for a time, and thus their chances of 
preferment were seriously delayed. The house in which this unfilial 
couple resided was razed to the ground. The wide-embracing and 
severe punishment of families and whole communities, of the heads of 
clans and literary classes to which such offenders belong, even extend- 
ing to numerous floggings, deaths, exiles, etc., seems quite unjust, but 
has the effect of making every man, woman and child, a guard, not only 
over his own actions, but even over those of his neighbors. When the 
crime reaches the magnitude of murder, the punishment sometimes 
includes a lingering death for the parricide, and a decapitation for the 
schoolmaster who had the misfortune to instruct the unnatural child; 



AGRICULTURE. 



353 



and what is more to be deplored, disgrace is heaped upon the ancestors 
of the family. The bones of grandfathers are scattered and dishonored, 
and the ancestral hall is closed. Offenses of this nature are conse- 
quently rare. 

Another picture : "A pleasing anecdote in relation to filial piety is 
told of a certain youth. Having lost his mother who was all that was 
dear to him, he passed the three years of mourning in a hut, and employed 
himself, in his retirement, in composing verses in honor of his parent. 
The period of his mourning having elapsed, he returned to his former resl 
dence. Hismother had always expressed great apprehension of thunder, 
and when it was stormy requested her son not to leave her. Therefore 
as soon as he heard a storm coming on, he hastened to his mother's grave, 
saying softly to her, ' I am here, mother.'" 

AGRICULTURE. 

It is fortunate that the Chinese are so naturally adapted to 
agriculture, since their four hundred million bodies so much depend 
upon the soil for existence. Next to education the government is a 
patron of agriculture, exempting from taxation all those lands which 
are reclaimed by their owners, or in case the waste lands are in remote 
districts and not thought worthy of attention by the proprietors, trans- 
ferring the title to those who will cultivate them. The Chinaman's love 
of quiet industry and the government's continual encouragement of it 
have left few barren spots of the empire untouched. The slopes of their 
hills even are terraced, and thereby made to retain sufifiicient water to 
irrigate the crops. When encouragement does not have its intended 
effect force is unhesitatingly applied. Each village has its agricultural 
board, and if a farmer shows negligence in realizing the greatest possible 
yield from his land he is simply and thoroughly flogged by the magistrate, 
upon the suggestion of the board. If he has left much uncultivated he 
receives many stripes; if little, only a few.' The property of landed pro- 
prietors which is allowed to lie unimproved is confiscated to the crown. 

The lands in China are held by families, upon the payment of an 
annual tax, which is not levied in case of a failure of the crop ; that is the 
law of the land, but needy mandarins often exact it. There is another 
general law to the effect that the provincial government may advance 
money to farmers whose crops have been destroyed, for the purchase of 
fresh seed. 

As a rule, the Chinese farm does not exceed one or two acres, and 
is separated from the next by a narrow embankment. To draw the 
greatest possible amount of good from his land the farmer allows mounds 

23 



354 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

of a certain form to remain in the middle of his small field, and plants 
rows of cedar trees, variously combined, across the rice plains. These 
mystic forms and figures are calculated to obtain the favor of the gods. 
Upon the clay walls of his house he also paints a circle or other effective 
figure, recommended by a Buddhist or Taouist priest to keep wolves, 
panthers, foxes, wild cats, badgers and other pests away from his few 
cattle and sheep. The elders of some of the villages even pass laws 
against injuring either the surrounding trees or the birds which lodge in 
them, as both are believed to have a good effect upon the adjacent rice 
plains. 

Having thus seen by what means the government and the gods are 
expected to assist the peasant of China we will see how he aids himself. 
The plow consists of a beam handle, a share with a wooden stem, and a 
rest behind instead of a moulding board. It is so light that he often 
carries it home on his shoulders. A large wooden hoe, tipped with iron, 
often takes the place of the plow, being universally employed in the 
cultivation of the hill lands. The harrow has three rows of iron teeth. 

The ceremonies which usher in the agricultural year in China are 
conducted at Pekin, by the Emperor in person ; in the other provinces 
the various officers, headed by the governors, worship the god of spring, 
who is represented by an idol holding a branch in his right hand, his left 
resting on the horns of a huge buffalo made of paper ; thus indicating 
that it is time for the farmer to put his buffalo to the plow and bring 
forth his crops. After the land has been plowed and harrowed, fortune 
tellers name the lucky day when the seed is to be sown. At the ap- 
pointed time the seed is cast into a corner of the field, and when the 
shoots have grown a few inches they are transplanted. The irrigation of 
the land is not accomplished in so crude a manner as in Egypt, with 
merely buckets, chain pumps and horizontal wheels, but steam power is 
often applied where the land is high above the surface of the river. 
With the regular manure which is used are also mixed feathers of birds, 
bone dust, bean cake, Peruvian guano and human hair, which is preserved 
by the barbers. 

In June the rice is usually reaped with sickles, in some districts the 
tops of the ears only being gathered, stacked into small bundles, and 
rapped against the inside of tubs so that the grain will be thereby col- 
lected. Other kinds of rice are threshed with flails upon an asphalt 
floov with which every farm is provided, or the grain is trodden out by 
oxen. It is then, perhaps, gathered on trays and thrown into the air, 
or taken up on pitchforks that the wind may perform its primitive func- 
tion of winnowing. Toward the end of July another crop is sown. 



AGRICULTURE. 355 

When the rice is finally stored in the granary, it is mixed with the ashes 
of the husks, which contain the necessary amount of carbon to drive away 
all destructive insects. Even with this preservative farmers are not 
allowed to withhold their grain in times of scarcity, hoping for extrava- 
gant prices ; this is the law, but the mandarins come in again, with their 
small salaries, often wink at the statute and realize a handsome fortune 
by colluding with equally unprincipled farmers to take advantage of a 
public calamity. 

The tea plant flourishes not only in Southern China, or the tropical 
regions, but as far north as Mongolia, where the winter is severe. The 
seeds are alternately dried and soaked until they begin to sprout, when 
they are planted in a thin layer of earth, spread over basket-work or 
matting. Like delicate children, the shoots are not at first exposed to 
the night air, but finally they get strong enough, when they are four 
inches high, to be planted out of doors. At the end of the third year, 
the plant has reached a height of from four to eight feet ; and a tea 
plantation, ready for the harvest, resembles a great field of evergreens. 
The leaf is similar in form to that of the myrtle. Three crops are gath- 
ered, usually in April, June and July. One leaf is plucked from the stalk 
at a time, and deposited in a clean wicker-work basket. The leaves are 
then spread out in the sun to dry, trodden under foot to expel any lurk- 
ing moisture, and then heaped together and covered with cloths for the 
night. When uncovered in the morning, the generated heat has changed 
the green color to black or brown. The laborers now rub them between 
their hands to twist or crumple them, and they are exposed to the sun, 
•or placed in a wicker-work frame and baked over a charcoal fire. Before 
finally getting into the channels of trade the leaves are subjected to 
another baking, and are cleaned and packed by the middleman be- 
tween the planter and the tea merchant. 

The leaves of green tea, while being subjected to the charcoal 
lieat, are constantly fanned, in order to retain their color. 

Brick tea, which is so much used in China, Thibet, Mongolia, Mant- 
chooria and Siberia, is made from leaves, stalks and stems, which are 
heaped into baskets and placed on iron pans of boiling water. Under- 
neath the pans slow fires are kept burning, and the steam reduces the 
contents of the baskets to a proper consistency to be placed into moulds 
and pressed. The "bricks" average 10x5x1 in. They are purchased 
principally by Russian merchants, who ship them to Siberian markets, 
where they are bought by Tartar and Mongol tribes. 

The silkworm was indigenous to China, the silk trade being carried 
on between that empire and Persia for many centuries before it was in- 



35^ THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

troduced into Europe. When Alexander the Great conquered Persia, 
during the first portion of the fourth century B. C, the silks of China 
were exposed for sale in all the marts of Greece, but the material was 
supposed to be a vegetable down or a fine wool. 

But twenty-three centuries previous to the first sight which Europe 
obtained of the mysterious stuff, an Empress of China reared a number 
of silkworms, and succeeded in weaving some beautiful webs. She is 
worshiped as the goddess of silkworms, and set the style which every 
imperial lady has since followed of thus interesting themselves. During 
October of each year, the Empress, accompanied by her attendants, re- 
pairs to the altar, and, with golden and silver implements, gathers mulberry 
leaves for the imperial silkworms, and winds a few cocoons of silk. The 
garments which they weave are to cover the principal idols of the empire. 

Well, the delusion under which Europeans labored was dissolved 
by two Nestorian monks, who, eight centuries later, arrived at Constan- 
tinople from China and told the Emperor what they knew about silk 
culture. They were persuaded to further prosecute their investigations, 
returning to China for the purpose. Collecting a quantity of eggs they 
packed them in bamboo tubes, and thus the industry was introduced to 
the West. It is reported that these pioneer eggs were hatched by the 
heat of a manure heap. 

A moth will lay five hundred eggs in three days, after which she dies 
and the male does not long survive her. The eggs are carefully washed 
in spring water, when about two weeks old, and during the autumn and 
winter months are preserved on pieces of paper or cloth. In the spring 
they are placed upon bamboo shelves, which are devoid of any harmful 
fragrance, and soon a hair-like worm appears, which, when young, is fed 
almost continually; but, like other babies, the time between meals is 
gradually extended. Besides mulberry leaves the flour of peas, beans 
and rice is given to insure strong and glossy silk. The worm matures 
in thirty-two days, having had during that time four periods of sleep, 
each of which was accompanied by a casting of its skin ; while the new 
covering was forming the worm slept. For a few days previous to " the 
great sleep," as the Chinese call it, the worm has a voracious appetite. 
Having attained to maturity, about two inches in length and as thick as 
a man's little finger, it changes from a grayish to an amber hue, and com- 
mences to move its head from side to side and spin the thread around its 
body, which forms the cocoon. In a few days it has accomplished its 
object, falls into its last sleep, and, casting its skin, becomes a chrysalis. 
This is destroyed by placing the cocoon near a slow fire, and then the 
manufacture of the silk commences by unwinding the thread. 



AGRICULTURE, 357 

Next to the work of rearing silkworms and manufacturing silk, 
there is no branch of manufacturing industry which affords more employ- 
ment to the Chinese than that of making porcelain and chinaware. 
From the preparation of the clay to the decoration of the ware the pro- 
cesses are simple, and, in marked contradistinction to the tendency of 
Western lands, machinery seems never to be employed when the work 
can be done by hand. In fact, it is possible that the Chinese do not 
desire labor-saving machinery in their thickly-populated empire, which is 
hemmed about either by rocky, barren and hostile countries or by those 
almost as populous. 

Wheat and barley are also good crops, and in some districts the 
grain is sown as soon as the second crop of rice is harvested. In the 
northern portions of the empire wheat, barley and corn are sown and 
reaped at the times prevalent in temperate climates. The grinding mill 
consists of two circular stones, the upper one concave and the under one 
convex. A bar is fastened to the upper stone, and a bullock, or buffalo, 
is attached to the bar. The grain is poured into a funnel which sets 
into the upper stone, and falls down over the lower one as flour. Water 
mills are also known, although not common. Their inventor has been 
elevated to the position of a god, and each mill contains an altar in his 
honor. 

The peanut crop is harvested in December, January and February, 
The nuts are exposed for sale in all fruit shops. Farmers value the oil 
which they extract from them very highly ; the residuum, or cake, is used 
as manure for rice lands and food for cattle, while the shells are burned 
for fuel. Sugar cane is grown both for the sugar and as a raw article 
which is sold by the fruiterers Indigo is raised from the island of For- 
mosa to Mongolia, three or four crops being gathered from one root. 
The plants are cut with sickles, bound into sheaves and placed in vats, 
where they are allowed to ferment for nearly a day. The liquor is then 
drawn off into other vats and beaten with paddles, which hastens precipi- 
tation. The precipitate, after being boiled,, strained and exposed to the 
sun. is cut into cakes, in which form the world sees them. 

Beans and peas are also raised for food crops, for the oil which is 
pressed from them, and for the cakes which are used as cattle feed and 
manure. 

Chinese cotton is the crop which follows wheat and barley, in rota- 
tion. The seed which is not required for next year's crop is sold to oil 
merchants, or used as food and medicine. It is said to operate upon 
the kidneys. The stems of the plant are used for fuel. After being 
cleaned the cotton is spun into yarn, and eventually appears as nankeen, 



358 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

linings for dresses, cotton velvets, etc. Tobacco is another prolific crop. 
After it has been forwarded to the factories, the leaves are trodden 
under foot by men, well sprinkled with oil, subjected to at great pressure, 
taken out in cakes, and afterwards planed into "fine cut." 

FISHING. 

The Chinese being a nation of fish-eaters as well as rice-eaters, the 
government has imposed very strict regulations upon fishermen, dividing 
the waters into districts and the vessels into companies, placing over 
each old and honest "salts." There are salt-fish vessels and fresh-fish 
vessels. Many of the latter are provided with great cisterns into which 
the fish are cast as they are caught, and others are simply reservoirs 
from stem to stern, in which fish are artificially reared on a paste made 
from the flour of wheat and beans. Artificial ponds are common through- 
out the empire, and the Chinese have made so close a study of the science 
of pisciculture that they place plantain trees around them, for the rain 
which falls from their leaves, after copious showers, is said to be impreg- 
nated with a solution which promotes the health of the fish. Other trees 
are placed on the banks, that the fruit may fall into the ponds and fatten 
the fish. Willow trees are harmful. Grass growing at the water's edge 
is avoided lest it should have attached to it the ova of fishes of prey. 
Many other like precautions are taken, the result of the combined expe- 
rience of an observing people for many centuries. 

In capturing fish upon their own ground, the Chinese show the 
same ingenuity and close powers of observation as in rearing them arti- 
ficially. For instance, it has been noticed that, when terrified, fish invari- 
ably shoot toward the light. So the Chinese fisherman fastens a long, 
white board to his boat, inclining toward the water, and also a large stone 
w^hich he lowers over the side, so that when he paddles along at night, 
the stone making a rushing noise, the fish will jump toward the reflec- 
tion and in most cases overleap it into the boat. On the same principle 
is the plan of forming two squads of boats into an inner and an outer 
circle, to the inside boats being fastened a circular net. In the center 
of the circle formed on the surface of the water by the corks to which 
the net is attached, is a boat in whose bows is kept burning a bright fire. 
The crews of the outer ring of boats furiously beat the water, and the 
fish in terror dash toward the central fire, which lights up the night all 
around, and thousands of them are entangled in the net and drawn into 
the inner circle of boats. 




THE JAPANESE. 



JHE native of Japan is a modification of the Mongol type as 
seen in the Chinese, He has eyes which are set less obliquely 
than those of his southern cousin ; but his eyebrows are heavy, 
his face oval, his forehead high and his complexion is not uni- 
form at all. He has even been classed as a Malayan, who in 
his bold voyages over every Asiatic sea settled in the " Land 
of the Rising Sun " and adopted the Mongol, or was by him 
adopted, the two forming the Japanese type. 

The native of this empire, since his country has been un- 
locked to the outside world, is commencing to be known and 
appreciated as an intelligent, animated, enterprising gentleman ; but it has 
long been a wonder how so mild and good-humored a people as they 
evidently are, can live under so sanguinary a code of laws. Death is 
the one general penalty. They are a proud people, though they 
acknowledge a supreme ruler, a spiritual monarch, the Mikado, who 
makes their laws. There is no middle class. 




GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION. 



The government is the Mikado and the hereditary princes who 
form the imperial cabinet and govern the principalities of the empire. 
Japan allows no competitive examination for appointment to the civil 
service as the Chinese do, but all power is inherited. And not alone are 
the lines of caste so strictly drawn that it is only lawful for men of rank 
to enter a city on horseback ; but so proud a people as the Japanese sub- 
mit to a system of espionage which runs through every grade of society. 
These and other burdens to which they cheerfully submit are perhaps 
borne for the sake of their religion, which is so woven into the structure 
of their government that to tear at the fibres of one would be to injure 
the other. 

The Mikado is the spiritual head of Shintoism, or their ancient and 
national religion, the essence of their worship being reverence for their 
ancestors and sacrifice to departed heroes ; and the great aim of their 

359 



36o 



THE world's fair. 



religion is obedience to the, edicts of the government. The three great 
commandments issued by the Department of Religion a few years ago, 
and intended to be the basis of a reformed Shinto, are as follows : — 
" Thou shalt honor the gods and love thy country ; thou shalt clearly 
understand the principles of heaven and the duty of man ; thou shalt 
revere the Emperor as thy sovereign and obey the will of his court." 

The Shinto temples are made of pure wood called "sunwood," and 
in them are seen mirrors and strips of white paper, emblems of self- 
examination and purity. The sun and moon are worshiped. Cleanli- 
ness of person and cheerfulness of heart are cardinal virtues. The 

heroes of the country are canonized and 
worshiped, the most popular of the minor 
deities being the god of war, one of their 
brave emperors. The forms of worship 
are simple: "The devotee approaches 
under the gateways until within a short 
distance of the door. He then stops, 
flings a few coins in the box or on the 
floor, folds his hands in a posture of rev- 
erence, mutters his prayers and departs." 
Buddhism,however,isthe popular religion 
of Japan, while many of the higher classes 
reject all worship of idols and accept 
the Confucian philosophy of life and mo- 
rality. But the Mikado cares not what 
religion is professed so long as they 
acknowledge his divinity ; whence has come about the persecution of 
Christians — not because they held to any distasteful religious beliefs, 
but because their creed made them rebels to the government. 

THE CORNER-STONE OF SOCIETY. 

Among the Chinese, politeness is inculcated as the outward mani- 
festation of an equable and moral character; with the Japanese polite- 
ness is scarcely distinguishable from morality itself, and actions are 
looked upon as bad if they grate upon their keen sensibilities. Eti- 
quette is the study of rich and poor. It is a great science, clearly 
defined, systematized and taught in the school from divers text books. 
Five years of study, among the educated classes, are devoted to it, both 
theoretically and practically, and until Japanese scholars and the Japan- 
ese o-overnment brought back from England and America a knowledge 
of modern institutions and countries, the scope of the higher education 




A JAPANESE. 



THE CORNER-STONE OF SOCIETY. 



361 




A NOBLE LADY. 



covered the ground of Confucian classics, social and court forms and Jap- 
anese and Chinese history. But, although the scope has been enlarged, 
etiquette is still the polished corner-stone of 
Japanese society and the japanning is carried over 
the lower structure itself, so that even the servants 
and coolies bow and bend to one another and use 
a formal and courtly language which would even 
give pleasure to a Lord Chesterfield. The contrast 
between the Eastern forms of etiquette and those 
of the West is too well known to warrant an ex- 
pansion of the theme. One peculiar form of Jap- 
anese table etiquette, however, has not often been 
exposed. When a cup of rice, beer or tea has been 
emptied at a feast, it is quite a delicate mark of 
attention for the guest who desires more to throw 
it across the table to a brother guest, who, in turn, 
hands it to the damsel in waiting. If one desires to 
introduce himself to another at a banquet the proper 
way is to offer his cup to the person whom he wishes to know ; if the guest 
would honor him with his acquaintance he drinks and returns the cup. 
The Japanese are the greatest eaters of marine animals in the 

world, and their fish markets 
are found everywhere. Raw 
fish is even a favorite article 
of food. River, lake and 
sea are frequented by thou- 
sands of fishermen and 
women. Many of the latter 
are expert divers, remaining 
in the water for hours and 
swimming for long distances 
with heavy bags of shell-fish 
on their shoulders. No meal 
would be complete without 
fish. 

" The visitor is always 
served with tea, sweetmeats 
laid on white paper on a 
tray and a little bowl with a 
live coal in it to light his pipe with. It is etiquette to carry away the 
remnants of the cake or candy, folded up in the paper and put in 




SELLING MARINE ANIMALb. 



362 THE world's fair. 

the wide sleeve. Meat, venison, poultry, game and large vegetables 
are cut or sliced before being brought on the table. Food is eaten out of 
lacquered wooden bowls and porcelain cups, chop-sticks taking the place 
of the knife and fork. A feast is accompanied by music and dancing 
and the last of the merry courses is rice and tea." 

MARRIAGE AND WOMEN'S DUTIES. 

The Japanese do not approve of such early marriages as most of 
the Orients' — twenty years for the man and sixteen for the woman are 
considered proper ages. Betrothals are not entirely in the hands of 
parents, either. The young man himself, when he desires to marry, sends 
a third party, it is true, to arrange the affair ; but it is usually one of his 
married friends, and he is seldom rushed into matrimony without having 
had a chance to meet the lady. The will of the parents has its weight, 
but it is not supreme as in Corea and China. When the wedding day 
has been fixed, the trousseau of the bride and her wedding gifts are sent 
to the house of the groom. They are followed by the little woman her- 
self, dressed in white, borne in a palanquin and escorted by her parents. 
The gayly attired bridegroom receives her, escorts her to the hall, 
where before the altar of the domestic gods, decorated with images and 
symbolic plants, they are betrothed and married by the same ceremony. 
No priest is in attendance, but the forms are simple and touching, the 
final one consisting in the young couple drinking together from a two- 
mouthed bottle, thereby pledging themselves to drain the waters of life 
together. 

The above is a mere outline of the formalities required by Japanese 
society to unite a couple in marriage. To conscientiously observe them 
all is to incur a greater expense than many of the people can bear. It 
is therefore a favorite plan, in order to evade these responsibilities, for 
the youth and maiden to collude with the parents and feign a runaway 
match in which the ceremony is necessarily brief and inexpensive. 

The education of women in all the walks of life consists, almost 
entirely, in forming her into an expert housewife. The Woman's 
Great Study is an immense volume, which may be said to contain the 
national standard of excellence toward which all females are instructed to 
strive. Obedience to parents, husband, and if a widow, to the eldest 
son, is the grand injunction. The study of etiquette, which is such an 
important part of popular education, does not cease during the lifetime 
of the Japanese lady. There are few more affectionate mothers than 
the Japanese. They treat their children as infants until they are two 
years of age, carrying them constantly with them. 



DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT, 



363 



DRESS AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT. 



A very short time ago it was considered the height of temerity for 
a foreigner to travel outside of the five open ports of Yokohama, Naga- 
saki, Hiogo, Niegati and Hokodadi. The danger did not come from 
the hostihty of the common people so much as from the jealousies of the 
princes and nobles of the empire. Although they have become recon- 
ciled to the existence of another order of civilization than their own, it 
is still best to engage the services of a native policeman, especially if 
one is about to venture into the streets of a large city. This functionary, 
in uniform, resembles a gaunt woman with a gaudy umbrella tied to her 
head, dressed in a loose jacket and skirt and armed with two swords 
carried underneath the outer garment. If the 
yakonin is mounted, in masculine fashion of 
course, his appearance is all the more ludicrous. 
Should the journey be a long one he would be 
escorted by runners, naked except for a cloth 
around the loins. From a distance this latter 
statement would scarcely be credited, for the en- 
tire bodies of the escorts are tattooed, being 
often covered with figures representing jackets 
and breeches, seamed and checked, with buttons 
and all. So, supposing that the services of the 
yakonin have been engaged, the stranger pro- 
ceeds to examine the costumes and personal ap- 
pearance of the Japanese, whether old or young, 
high or low. 

Japanese women have become noted for 
their striking and coquettish dress. They take 
especial pride in arranging their glossy hair, it being usually divided 
into three great sections, fastened with large ornamental pins or pretty 
ribbons. Both sexes wear a large open dressing gown, the women cross- 
ing it in front and tying it behind with an enormous sash. As the little 
women trot along in their wooden sandals, they are truly pleasing objects 
to contemplate. A lady of high standing is often attired in a garment 
of rich silk, beautifully decorated with flowers and vines, wearing over 
her shoulders a sack or shawl of plain but rich material. 

That hideous practice, which was formerly well-nigh universal, by 
which women above twenty years of age, and all who were married, 
shaved off their eyebrows and blackened their teeth, is gradually dying 
out. The reform originated at court twenty years ago and is rapidly 




A JAPANESE GIRL. 



364 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



spreading. The custom was rooted in the Oriental idea that a married 
woman belonged, body and soul, to her husband ; and her husband chose 
to make her unattractive, to the outside world at least. The Japanese 
maiden, wife and widow, are now distinguishable in society by the style 
of their coiffure. If it were not for the immoderate use of paint the 
women would be as attractive as those of any country, with their glossy 
dark brown hair, oval faces, slender graceful forms, and elegant manners. 
In the young, the natural complexion is seen to be fair, and when a lady 
of the upper class who is not exposed to the weather, leaves all her 
paint in the box, she often appears with a face as white as a European's. 
Usually, head coverings are not worn, except broad screens to keep 

off sun and rain, and a simple cloth 
cap and face protector in winter. 
Oiled paper or straw overcoats are 
worn in rainy weather, and the fan is 
carried by men and women. Loose 
trousers are the distinguishing mark 
of the nobility, but the hideous panta- 
loons formerly worn at court, which 
completely covered the wearer's feet 
and spread out far to the side, and 
the upper garment with its enormous, 
flapping sleeves, have given place to 
European attire. The higher classes, 
however, have their rank indicated 
by the crest of the family or clan, 
which is worked upon the breast and 
back of the outer robe. The carrying 
of swords — two or more for the no- 
people — is a custom which is quite 




rORMER NOBLEMAN AND SERVANT. 



for the 



common 



bility, and one 
obsolete. 

The higher class of medical practitioners, such as the court physi- 
cians, shave their heads completely, as do the priests ; but the common 
masculine fashion is to shave off the hair about three inches in front, 
comb it up from the back and sides and glue it into a tuft at the top of 
the head, where it is confined by pins of gold or tortoise shell. 



AMUSEMENTS. 

The Japanese have not the staid, placid dispositions of the Chinese. 
They are more light-hearted, and even at table often enliven the simple 
courses with music upon the guitar Tokio has a permanent fair, and 



JUGGLERS AND ACROBATS. 365 

here may be witnessed the diverse forms of amusement \/hich tickle the 
lively minds of these people. In the center is an immense temple, sur- 
rounded by groves and tea houses. A wide, well-paved road, which 
passes through the grounds, is planted to maples and covered with mer- 
chants who squat upon their mattresses and proclaim the virtues of their 
goods. One has a heap of dead rats beside him — he sells rat poison. 
Another fondles the head and claws of a bear — he vends bear grease, 
for the skin. Bank lotteries, stereoscopes and telescopes are temptingly 
displayed for trial. The astrologer and the professional story-teller and 
news-agent are also here. The latter tells about the last murder and the 
way in which the villain was punished, and for a little money distributes 
leaflets containing the account to his auditors, that they may bear the 
exciting tale to absent ones. 

JUGGLERS AND ACROBATS. 

The uproar of the crowd is pierced with the cries, songs and dis- 
sonance of the mountebanks, players and jugglers ; they are balancing 
sticks, swallowing swords, whirling bottles and cups, making flowers 
grow from nothing, crushing birds and reviving them, breaking eggs and 
bringing cart loads of silks from them, and the climax of every wonder 
is being made more startling by the shrill note of fife, the clang of drum 
or the rattle of tambourine in the hands of able assistants. The music 
is not calculated to educate one's taste, but rather to distract the atten- 
tion of the lynx-eyed native at critical points. 

A group of Japanese acrobats, who perform beneath a great shed 
on the fair grounds, draw an immense crowd as they do everywhere. 
Their balancing poles are very long false noses, upon which children 
may perch with safety, or stand thereon upon their own •^oxX.o.r probos- 
cides. Another difficult trick is where the performer places an Q.<g^ 
upright on his forehead and upon the ^g^ balances a saucer. Juggling 
tricks as performed by native geniuses are simply miraculous — until 
you know how they are done. The common manner of applause is to 
strike the palm of the left hand with the closed fan, this action being 
accompanied with a slight cry of satisfaction. 

THE NOBILITY OF GLADIATORS. 

This subdued applause is impossible, however, when the ponderous 
feats of the Japanese wrestlers are under review. The contests take 
place in circuses. In the centre is the ring, a platform slightly elevated 
and surrounded by a double pile of straw sacks. The wrestlers, who are 



366 THE world's fair. 

usually mountains of avoirdupois, divide into companies and squat around 
the ring. The master of ceremonies, armed with his fan of command, 
calls a rival from each company, and the two giants are loudly applauded 
as they raise their arms above their heads to salute the immense audience. 
Then, sprinkling grains of rice and drops of water about the arena, which 
is covered with gravel, in order to propitiate the god of gladiators, they 
moisten their limbs, rub some sand between their hands to insure a 
firm grasp, and rush at each other like mad bulls. The object of the 
conflict is, by blows or by clinching, to expel each other from the ring. 

From the middle of the seventh century, M^hen Japan was favored 
with its first Mikado, these gladiators have been an honored class, 
proudly tracing their descent through a line of more or less illustrious 
ancestors. The nobility of Japan, even, do not disdain their acquaint- 
ance ; in fact, the leaders of the wrestlers once wore swords, a sign of 
nobility. The wrestlers themselves are members of a great organiza- 
tion, presided over by their king or acknowledged champion. Each 
province furnishes its quota of athletes, who form a minor society whose 
head is the champion of the province. Every professional must be in- 
corporated with some society and be content with a salary, the cham- 
pion, on the other hand, drawing from the proceeds of the entertain- 
ments and being responsible to the king only. The Mikado fixes the 
length of time during which the companies shall exhibit at the principal 
towns. 

THE THEATRE. 

Open-air theatricals and exhibitions of puppets are favorite forms of 
amusement with the poorer classes, the more wealthy people attending 
regular theatres. The play commences at sunrise, crowds of tradesmen, 
clerks and prosperous artisans hastening toward the doors of the theatre, 
with their gaily dressed wives and children. A lady of the nobility occa- 
sionally slides in (incognito), but her husband can not attend even in 
disguise. There is no law against such enjoyment, but he would thereby 
seriously imperil his standing in society. 

The wife of the well-to-do tradesman appears, however, in her true 
colors. She even commenced to prepare for this enjoyable event the 
evening before. The hair-dresser built a tower upon her head, and 
during the night she could not even turn upon her block of wood. Upon 
the morrow she arose, bathed, washed her neck, shoulders and arms with 
milk-starch ; blackened her eyebrows with a pencil ; coated her lips with 
a golden preparation which afterwards turned to vermilion ; decked her- 
self with silken robes, confined by a sash which was twisted around the 
hips and tied behind in a great bow — then eating a light breakfast with 



THE THEATRE. 



367 



her husband and child, and providing them with other refreshments which 
might be required, she was prepared to be borne away to the theatre in 
her palanquin. 

The performance may last fifteen hours, or forty-five, but after hav- 
ing bought their tickets, hired their cushions and procured their pro- 
grammes at an adjoining tea house, the family are prepared to give them- 
selves up entirely to pleasure, notwithstanding that there are other head- 
dresses in all portions of the great hall as obstructing to the view as our 
lady's. In the center of the theatre is a small platform occupied by a 
special policeman. The stage stretches across one side of the hall 
and the orchestra of drums, flutes and three-stringed guitars is in front, 

to the left. Galleries run 
around the hall, the ground 
floor being divided into 
square boxes by wooden 
partitions. Two boarded 
platforms run from the 
stage on either side to the 
opposite end of the hall, 
and along these pathways 
the actors make their en- 
trances and exits. The 
play of several hours or 
several days is almost en- 
tirely pantomime, a choir 
of singers and an ear- 
splitting orchestra keep- 
ing up a constant din. 
But hour after hour the happy natives applaud a favorite actor, a melo- 
dramatic representation or even a gesture, partaking of refreshments 
which are handed to them by waiters who walk along the ledges of the 
wooden partitions, the men constantly lighting their small copper pipes at 
the little brazier, or pan of live coals, which stands in the middle of each 
box. 

The stage turns upon a pivot, so that as one set of actors passes out 
of sight a new lot. already gesticulating, posturing, groaning, laughing, 
scowling and otherwise using the universal language, comes before the 
audience. But by far the most unique feature of Japanese theatricals is 
embodied in the " Shadow." " He is clothed entirely in black, wears a 
black cowl, and stands close behind the actor, off of whom he never takes 
his eye for an instant, and whose every movement he follows as though 




RIDING IN A PALANQUIN. 



368 



THE world's fair. 



he were his reflection. He. hands him all the little accessories he is in 
need of, and places a small stool at the right moment for him to sit upon 
and prevent the inconvenient posture of squatting. The eye can not at 
first accustom itself to this black form stalking so silently about the 
boards ; but in a theatre all is so conventional that the quaint impression 
soon wears away, and, once admitted, this shadow certainly fills a most 
useful part. Amongst other services, when the day wanes he holds a 
lighted candle at the end of a stick under the nose of the actor to 
render his gestures and features distinguishable." 

BATHING AND TEA HOUSES. 

The bath in Japan is what it was in Rome in the ancient days, 
with this difference — that in the Eastern Empire both sexes formerly 
performed their ablutions in common. Of late years, however, the 

practice has been prohibited. 
Although contrary to all 
Western ideas of propriety, 
the subsequent conduct of 
maidens who daily repaired 
to the public house was mod- 
est and ladylike. The cus- 
tom was one of great an- 
tiquit)^ and as whole streets 
were devoted to bathing 
houses and they were na- 
tional institutions, supported 
b)' father, son, mother and 
daughter, so far as might be 
judged by outsiders, the cus- 
tom was not productive of 
lamentable results. 

Nearly each house of 
the upper classes has at- 
tached to it, also, private bathing rooms, but they are often unused. 
Hot-water baths are considered as necessary to a Japanese as eating 
or sleeping; so that besides his morning bath he goes through a course 
of parboiling later in the day. As he is religiously opposed to wetting 
his head, he is frequently stricken with apoplexy before he leaves his 
little leather tub and the gossiping and laughing crowd of men who 
frequent the bathing hall. 

Next to the bathing hall the tea house is the most popular of 




INTERIOR OF 



EUROPEAN HABITS. 369 

resorts. In the cities, in the suburbs, far out into the country, the tea 
houses spring from the most picturesque locaHties. Upon public road 
they often reach the dignity of hotels; in retired country nooks they 
descend to mere huts of wood and paper, covered with a thatched roof, 
but snug and inviting, notwithstanding. In establishments of any pre- 
tensions young girls wait upon customers, who sit cross-legged upon 
soft mats and slowly sip their bowls of tea. By calling for them they 
also will be served with rice, brandy, eggs or fish. The saddest phase 
of Japanese life is seen in another class of tea houses, called " Joro-jas." 
They are frequented by night, the entrances being guarded by wooden 
gratings. Beyond are halls lighted sufificiently with paper lanterns for 
any passer-by to discern the richly attired young girls squatting together 
in a group for inspection, like so many bedizened wax dummies. They 
range from fourteen to twenty years of age, and their beautiful jet 
black hair is artistically arranged and ornamented with yellow tortoise 
shells. Within are beautiful gardens and pavilions, and Japanese 
musicians and dancers, some of them mere children, who have been sold 
into slavery by poor parents. 

EUROPEAN HABITS. 

The rapid changes which the Japanese are undergoing from native 
to European civilization are best illustrated by a glance at Yeddo, or as 
it has been known for many years Tokio, the capital of the empire. Its 
settled districts, with beautiful gardens and groves, wide streets and 
canals, cover an area of nearly sixty square miles. Tokio lies in a broad 
valley, which slopes toward the waters of the Bay of Yeddo. All around 
are wooded hills and the cypress, palm, bamboo and evergreen oaks 
spring up on every side. Charming suburbs, with snug hedgerows and 
shady lanes, nestle around the bustling city, which is itself broken into 
magnificent parks adorned with artificial lakes, pavilions, and temples 
which are used for civil as well as religious purposes. The very heart 
of the city is a bewildering succession of these temple gardens, and 
here is the official quarter, which comprises an area of five square miles 
surrounded by a triple line of fortifications and containing the former 
palaces of the nobles. These great structures, as well as the castle of 
the Tycoon (who was formerly the real ruler of Japan), are built on the 
summit of a range of hills. Massive walls and gateways, macadamized 
roads, deep moats in which are myriads of wild fowl, with groups of 
buildings standing upon bold elevations, green slopes, overhanging 
groves, and everything which the fine artistic sense of the Japanese 
mind, aided by nature, can suggest, combine to make this district of 



EUROPEAN HABITS. 3/1 

the city one of the most alluring spots in the world. The residences of 
the daimios surrounded the palace of the Tycoon, but with his degrada- 
tion and the entrance of foreigners to the empire many of the nobles 
deserted their homes and retired in disgust to the country. Space 
which was formerly monopolized by such useless magnificence is now 
covered with government buildings, cotton, woolen and paper mills, 
colleges, schools, arsenals and foundries. In the imperial university are 
lOO foreign instructors, and the schools and colleges are attended by 
60,000 or 70,000 pupils. The youth of the land are bright and ambi- 
tious, as several of the universities of America know full well. 

Elementary schools are being established throughout the empire ; 
the law of 1872 providing for 53,000 of them. Forty per cent, of the chil- 
dren of school age are receiving instruction, and among the youth and 
manhood of the land the fever to imbibe European ideas is at its 
height. Not only are the higher schools and colleges thronged, but 
private tutors of standing are besieged on all sides. One of these mas- 
ters at Tokio is an author of political and social works and a translator 
from the best Western writers. His students already fill many important 
government offices, and others have established a newspaper which 
vigorously criticises all public acts. Throughout Japan there are 
between 300 and 400 newspapers and periodicals, and school books, and 
works on political, scientific, ethical, historical and poetical subjects are 
constantly issuing from the press. 

Outside of the district which may be considered as under the im- 
mediate patronage of the Mikado and the government, is the business 
and residence territory. Within this are miles of stone and brick build- 
ings in the modern style of architecture, with miles more of open booths. 
A horse vehicle is not so great a wonder in Tokio as in other portions 
of the empire, and carts piled high with goods of all descriptions are 
being dragged through the streets in endless procession. Bathhouses, fire- 
proof warehouses, mounted policemen ; natives in black coats and leather 
shoes as well as in native costume ; newspaper offices using the metal 
types and running off their sheets on cylinder presses ; telegraph wires, 
connecting not only the police districts, but the other chief cities of the 
empire with the capital ; locomotives running to Yokohama, the foreign 
mercantile settlement seventeen miles away, and others nowbuildingto run 
over longer lines ; sewing and knitting machines and banks are thrown 
together — the old and the new brought together in striking contrast. 
But sufficient is seen to place the Japanese in the list of decidedly pro- 
gressive and remarkable people. 

In one of the most thickly settled districts of Tokio is a massive 



372 THE world's FAIR. 

wooden bridge spanning the, river Okawa. It is not a remarkable en- 
gineering achievement and only interesting as being the center of the 
empire and the point from which distances are reckoned — so many ri 
(two and one-half miles) from the " Nipon-bas," as the bridge is called, 
north or south. 

Tokio is the most noteworthy illustration of the spread of European 
ideas ; for here are manufactured from foreign models such articles as 
watches, clocks, globes, thermometers, barometers, microscopes, tele- 
scopes, knives, spoons, looking-glasses, rugs, carpets, clothing, etc.; but 
in all the large cities and towns, the new is crowding out the old, and 
even pickles, condensed milk, fancy soap, patent medicines, wines and 
brandies, are swinging into line. 

UNWORTHY OF JAPAN. 

Legalized suicide is an institution peculiar to China and Japan, It 
is called " harri-kari " in the latter empire, and the mode of legalized 
procedure is to disembowel one's self with a sharp knife ; this is pecul- 
iarly Japanese. Efforts are being made to suppress the disgrace, which 
is still a hideous instrument employed by cruel and autocratic daimios to 
punish those who have offended them ; the unfortunates are ordered to 
commit harri-kari, and such is the power which the princes often have 
over their subjects, that the self-murder is generally committed. On the 
other hand, it is often considered a privilege of which the nobility them- 
selves take advantage. 

STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE. 

The common Japanese houses have frameworks of wood, to which 
are fastened reeds or bamboo, and the interstices filled with mud, with 
wooden door and window frames covered with paper, broad eaves and a 
veranda running completely around. The rain doors, or outer shut- 
ters, protect the inner ones during stormy weather. Within are paper 
partitions, which can be slid out of sight, and the whole house thrown 
into a hall to accommodate the pleasure-seeking people. No house is 
without its gem of a garden. It matters not how tiny it is, the ground 
is laid out in beautiful groves of dwarf shrubs which surround miniature 
lakes, little streams over which green arches are thrown to represent 
bridges, or leafy bowers which would scarcely accommodate a company 
of Lilliputians. The houses are often loaded with blue lilies and other 
flowers, while these artificial landscapes are enclosed with bamboo fences 
over which creep trailing vines and plants. 



i 



WITHIN THE HOUSE. 373 

The palaces of the nobility are simply several of these houses, 
united by corridors of stone or wood, roofed over with cement, and sur- 
rounded by a continuous rampart of smaller whitewashed structures, in 
which the domestics reside. The Mikado's palace is a " yashki " of larger 
dimensions, comprising many courts and streets, and scores of houses, 
pavilions and corridors, with beautifully varnished, gilded and sculptured 
roofs. 

When the sound of the tocsin is heard from the fire tower there is 
naturally great alarm ; for fires in all the cities of Japan are destructive. 
It is estimated that Tokio is burned all over once every seven years. 
When the flames fairly get a headway the most that can be done is to 
pull down a great area of buildings, and remove the goods in their imme- 
diate pathway to the nearest fire-proof warehouse. This is shaped like 
a tower, built of wood and encased with cement or mud, sometimes a 
foot in thickness. The doors and windows are built of the same mate- 
rial, are closed upon the approach of a conflagration and the cracks plas- 
tered up with mud. Candles have been lighted inside to convert the 
oxygen of the air into carbonic acid gas, so that the building is made 
absolutely fire proof. These warehouses, or low towers, are also used 
upon the approach of the typhoon or hurricane. 

Fire, wind and earthquake are the three forces of nature with which 
the Japanese are obliged to contend, and their houses, which are seldom 
more than thirty feet in height, are constructed with reference to the 
latter. If they are two stories high, the second is built more substan- 
tially than the first (experience has taught them that this is the safer 
plan) — the upper one comprising the living rooms and the lower the 
cellar for the storage of provisions. 

WITHIN THE HOUSE. 

The same delicacy of taste and sense of propriety are noticed in 
the interior as in the exterior arrangements. Simplicity, cleanliness, 
harmony of design and coloring, and comfort are the uppermost feat- 
ures. Thick m.ats of rice straw cover the floor, over which members 
of the family walk barefooted. Waiting is done by kneeling before a 
table about a foot high When the letter is finished the table is put 
away in a cupboard. The family eat sitting on their heels around a 
small table. After dinner every person takes a nap of several hours 
In the evening comes another meal, and after the table is cleared men, 
women and children produce their pencils, brushes, paints and papers, 
and give exhibitions of their skill. The height of the artist's ambition 
is not so much to excel in delineatine Nature's moods as to draw and 



374 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



paint in the most surprisingly ingenious methods. He will put in ahead 
here, a tail there, a tree in one corner, a house in another, a leg in the 
air, an arm beneath, an eye glancing out of space, and when all have 
tired themselves in guessing what it all can mean, a few rapid strokes of 
pencil and brush will join everything together and form a tolerable 
picture. 

Other games succeed the artistic efforts, and they are enjoyed by 
son, father, grandfather, even to the fourth generation ; and the same 
universal love of diversion is witnessed out of doors, where the natives 
fly kites and indulge in feats of skill, everyone entering heartily into the 
sport, from the infant who can hardly walk to the sire who can just 
totter around. When night comes, they envelop themselves in large, 

warm night robes, placing 
their day clothes either in 
an open cabinet or upon a 
frame which stands near.and 
repose upon a straw matting 
covered with a quilt, with a 
wooden block stuffed at the 
top for a pillow. It is cus- 
tomary,also,to have a teapot 
with cups beside the bed, 
with conveniences for heat- 
ing, so that the day may be 
ushered in with one or more 
cups of the favorite bever- 
age. Day and night the 
brazier is kept burning, and 
if the Japanese is not drink- 
A JAPANESE BEDROOM. [^g tga, he is usually some- 

where in the vicinity of the teapot, smoking and gossiping with his friends. 

THE LAST RESTING PLACE. 

Regard for the dead is manifested by the Japanese in the same way 
as by the Chinese. The ancestral tablet is placed with the household 
gods, and the family altar is their most sacred shrine. If the body is 
interred, it is buried in a sitting posture, with the hands folded. The 
coffins are invariably circular. The ceremonies at the grave are con- 
ducted by priests, and even here there is little of that depressing spirit 
of mourning manifested, which, with some, is considered a religious as 
well as a social duty. The nearest relatives are dressed in grayish white, 




AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES. 375 

the men wear coarse straw hats, and the women discard their elaborate 
ornaments, merely wearing a comb in the hair. The cemetery is bright 
with flowers, and each family has its own enclosure, marked with simple 
stones or massive granite monuments. 

If the deceased has expressed a desire to have his body burned, 
after the ceremonies have been performed in the temple, the corpse is 
carried to a small house, placed upon a stone scaffold, and being con- 
sumed in the presence of priests, the bones are carefully drawn from the 
fire by men armed with sticks. The remaining ashes are placed in an 
urn, and carried to the tomb by the relatives. 

AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES. 

Government and people combine to make Japan a garden, and to 
utilize every possible acre of ground. The land is divided into small 
holdings, irrigated, enriched and cultivated according to the Chinese 
methods. The plough generally in use is a heavy piece of wood fastened 
obliquely to a beam, and hollowed out so as to receive a piece of iron 
which serves as a share. When the land has been inundated from the 
canals in early spring, it is broken up into a liquid paste and the rice is 
cast into the ground by hand. It is then harrowed; when the young rice 
begins to shoot it is transplanted and reaches maturity in October. 
The transformation of the tea plant into commercial forms is accom- 
plished through the same processes in Japan as in China. When you 
are intimate with the agriculture of either country you can "farm it" in 
the other. 

As horticulturists, however, the Japanese stand alone in certain 
specialities. They seem even to carry their feats of legerdemain into 
this department. They will grow you a cedar many feet in circumfer- 
ence or only a few inches ; a head of lettuce larger than a bushel basket 
or smaller than a rose, but healthy and productive in either case. Among 
other wonders in this line a sight-seer mentions the vigorous appearance 
of a fir, a bamboo and a cherry tree, which were growing in a box 5x2 
inches. It is by the application of this remarkable skill that the Japanese 
are enabled to delineate upon the tiniest pieces of ground, the boldest 
and most charming landscapes. 

W^ith the introduction into Japan of steam power and modern 
machinery the native manufactures are already undergoing many changes, 
not always for the better. It is an open question, therefore, whether in 
certain lines of work the Japanese have not reached their greatest per- 
fection. Their lacquer work and their bronzes are the finest in the 
world. For the former they have become so noted as to have given a 



37^ THE world's fair. 

common word to the English language — japanning. The varnish whicn 
they use is mixed slowly and smoothly upon a copper palette with the 
coloring matter, and after being applied five or six times, being allowed 
to dry after each application, is scraped and polished with a stone or 
bamboo utensil. The mother-of-pearl figures are cut out and colored 
underneath, placed upon the varnish and undergo the same process as 
the wood. 

The bronzes are not only noted for the fineness of the metal but 
for the beauty of th^ finish. They are richly decorated with figures 
representing national heroes, mythological personages, and historical 
events, as well as birds, animals and landscapes. The swords of Japan 
are almost as famous as the Damascus blades. In short, as workers in 
iron, copper and brass they are unexcelled. 

Their paper, which they make from the mulberry tree, is tough, 
glossy and fine, and is used for napkins. The bark of the tree is boiled 
in an alkaline composition, washed, and mixed with a preparation of 
rice ; being thus reduced to a smooth paste, the mixture is formed into 
sheets by being pressed between bamboo laths. 

The Japanese tend their silkworms as carefully as their children. 
The art of weaving is, by legendary account, of celestial origin, and is con- 
sidered as of as royal a nature as it is in China. Thelovely maiden who 
brought the art to earth returned to her home in one of the heavenly 
constellations, and upon the seventh day of the seventh month, as the 
stars appear, Japanese women and girls spread beneath their kindly rays 
silken threads of various colors, offering fruits and flowers to the divini- 
ties who control the cunning of human hands. 

THE JAPANESE AS ARTISTS. 

In the decoration of their fans, houses, metal and wood work, and 
the arrangement of their beautiful parks, the Japanese exhibit their 
artistic talents to the best advantage. Birds, flowers and fruit are their 
favorite themes, and they delineate them in perfect forms and exquisite 
colors. But when they come to the representation of landscapes, where 
perspective is required, their efforts are crude in the extreme ; in fact, 
they are such masters of detail that they can not conceive how it is 
that every feather and shade of color should not be distinctly brought 
out of the bird upon the wing in the far distance as well as every line 
of the palace which stands in the foreground The Japanese have made 
a close study of anatomy, but Japanese artists slur the "human form 
divine" most shamefully. It is generally draped and properly attired in 



THE FIRST, LAST. 



377 



native costume, when appearing in their pictures, and a Japanese sculp- 
tor would be a curiosity indeed. 

Like the Chinese the Japanese are persistent musicians, although 
they produce but little 
music. Music is part of 
every woman's education, 
her favorite instruments 
being a three-stringed 
banjo and a larger instru- 
ment which is placed up- 
on the ground and played 
with slender strips of 
bamboo. 






^m^:%m 






THE FIRST, LAST. 

There is one entire 
race of people who en- 
gage in fishing — the 
Ainos, who inhabit the 
island of Yezo, to the 
north of Niphon. They 
are the aborigines of the 
archipelago. In appear- 
ance they are small and 
thick set, with wide fore- 
heads, black, horizontal 
eyes and fair skin. The 
women dress in zouave 
style, wear broad- 
brimmed hats with a 
conical center, or simply 
cloths tied over the head. 
The men have tight-fit- 
ting pantaloons, with a 
cloak fastened with a 
sash, the cloth for which 
is made from sea-weed. 
The A'inos have no traditions of their origin, but they believe 
they came from the west, although they differ from all the tribes 
of Eastern Siberia. They worship the fish and the wolf and make 






37^ THE world's fair. 

no attempt to cultivate their land. The Ainos were formerly masters 
of the archipelago, north of Niphon, and after being driven from that 
island fought stubbornly for many years and were not reduced to com- 
plete subjection until the fourteenth century. They are rapidly decreas- 
ing in numbers and are being crowded into the northern districts of the 
only island which remains to them ; so that before long it is probable 
that they will be extinct. 

THE COREANS. 

It seems probable that the Coreans are of the great Tungoosic stock 
to which the Mantchoos belong and which has spread over so great a 
portion of Northern Asia. Their language is Mongolian, and they are 
both taller and stouter than either the Chinese or Japanese. But 
although they have been conquered by the Mantchoos, the Japanese 
and the Chinese, the latter have retained the supremacy, and they render 
even a less tribute to the empire than does Mongolia, Their religions, 
however, are borrowed from China and the nature of the government is 
Contucian. 

Literary attainment is the basis of political preferment. The 
examinations all take place in Seoul, the capital of the kingdom, the 
preliminary one being conducted annually, and those of higher grade 
when His Majesty is in need of government officers. The king is abso- 
lute, although there are near to him the Counsellor of the Right, the 
Counsellor of the Middle and the Counsellor of the Left. The six 
Chinese departments appear in Corea, the Interior, the Treasury, the 
War, the Public Works, and the departments of Justice and Religious 
Rites. Each department has its head, whose title, translated, is " deci- 
sive signature," and he is assisted by several " helps-to-decide " and 
" helps-to-discuss." 

The provinces into which the kingdom is divided have each a gover- 
nor, who has six assistants ; these assistants, who are rulers of districts, 
are aided by six other officials upon whom, in turn, depend six other 
functionaries. Three and multiples of three seem to be considered 
magic numbers. 

The audience hall of the King's palace, which is of the Chinese 
form of architecture, is faced by three gates ; the approach from the gates 
to the first flight of steps is flanked on either side by eighteen granite 
slabs upon which are engraved the different ranks of His Majesty's sub- 
jects and which mark also the precise point to which they may advance 
toward his divine presence, when a royal reception is on hand. 





THE AUSTRALIANS. 

P TO the present time a large portion of the central regions of 
Australia has not been explored. It is hard to realize that 
from the center of the island continent one could travel a 
thousand miles in any direction without reaching the sea 
coast. And yet it is not distance alone which has deterred 
the bold explorers of the world from penetrating every nook 
of the unknown interior. So far as is known, the distressing 
spectacle is presented of over a million square miles of earth 
which is undrained by any system of rivers or lakes. The 
great interior of the continent is a depressed table land, and 
even here, from the minor explorations which have been made, it is 
evi^'ent there can be no reservoirs for the supply of rivers, since the 
evaporation and absorption of water are astonishing in their rapidity. All 
the supply of water which the traveler can hope to obtain, except that 
which he takes with him, must be wrested from the wild and emaciated 
native, who has been driven from the coast regions, and guards his 
water pits as jealously as any denizen of the great Sahara desert. 
The first expeditions which penetrated Central Australia, in spite of 
the terrible suffering and often death of their participants, owed their 
partial success to the native wells. They are little more than holes 
sunk in the sand with a slight curve, which both shields them from the 
burning sun and hides them from observation. The instinct which is 
thus shown in striking water goes far beyond all the knowledge and 
experience of the European mind. Colonel Warburton, an English 
traveler, who nearly lost his life in crossing the western interior of the 
continent, admits that out of fifty attempts which his party made to 
find water, they were successful in but one case. They were therefore 
obliged to systematically hunt for natives, and if they were fortunate 
enough to capture them and detain them, they were sometimes forced to 
reveal the presence of the treasured wells. In a country where game 
is scarce, and where the native is engaged in a constant struggle with 
nature, he is apt to be timid when he comes in contact with man. The 



38o 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



population is sparse, and such of the interior AustraHans as travelers 
have seen, are as weak, forlorn and cowardly objects as can be found in 
savage life. They have not even been hardened by contact with beasts 
of prey, for such do not exist in Australia. Therefore neither savage 
nor beast will lie in the way of the explorer. Yet he has a truly fearful 
obstacle to overcome. 

THE GREAT INLAND FLOOD-BREEDER. 

Australia is both the land of drought and the land of floods. The 
cool currents from the Antarctic regions are constantly coming up 

from the south and 
finding no great 
mountain chains to 
bar their course, 
spread over the hot 
land as far inward 
as they can. The 
northwest mon- 
soons from the In- 
dian ocean blow on 
the coast four 
months of the year, 
' penetrating far in- 
land, their force 
being seen in 
b b e d waves of 
sand over five hun- 
dred miles from the 
j seashore. In ex- 
e m e droughts 
these adverse cur- 
rents of air may 
meet ; one laden 
with the warm 
vapors of the In- 
dian Ocean, the 
other called also far inland, with its cool breath, to take the place of the 
more rarified atmosphere of the continent. Like two immeasurable seas 
they come together, and the warm vapors of the ocean are condensed 
into resistless floods. They pour down upon the plain in such torrents 
that the parched land is powerless to evaporate them, even if the cool 




AN AUSTRALIAN SAVAGE. 



THE GREAT INLAND FLOOD-BREEDER. 38 1 

southern breeze were not at its work of gigantic condensation. There 
are no large rivers to draw off the waters of the plains, and, even when 
the monsoon has ceased to blow, this alternate evaporation and the con- 
densation by the southern currents may go on indefinitely. Then may 
come another year or several years of drought, and a year or years of 
floods. The tremendous overflow spreads over the plain and surges 
over the country until it even reaches the slight water sheds of the coasts. 
In Western Australia the bed of the Swan River has, perhaps, 
been so long dry that the footprints of explorers who have crossed it 
three years previously may still be seen in the sand ; but with the 
coming of this deluge it is expanded into a seething lagoon or chain 
of lakes, which is again evaporated and absorbed like magic. A 
traveler tells a story which graphically illustrates the sudden onslaught 
of the waters. With a flock of sheep, he was encamped on the bed 
of a river which was a quarter of a mile wide, but which, by drought, 
had been diminished to a little brook. On a remarkably hot afternoon, 
a distant rushing sound became audible, and on looking up the dry 
reach, his party saw a solid wall of water bearing down upon them. 
There was only just time to get the sheep across before the whole bed 
of the river became a turbid sheet of water. In half an hour it was 
saddle-flap deep, and at daylight, on the following morning, neither 
man nor horse could have crossed without danger. This sudden rise was 
occasioned by a rain on its tributary several hundred miles away. 
Another peculiarity of so-called Australian rivers is that when full of 
water, without apparent warning, they will drop into a marsh or quick- 
sand and entirely disappear. These uncertainties of water supply and 
horrors of sudden floods obviously explain the mystery which surrounds 
the fate of more than one exploring party which has been swallowed 
up in Central and Western Australia. 

INTERIOR SAVAGES. 

The latest explorations into the interior of tne continent dispel 
former delusions either of a great inland sea, or a uniform desert. Por- 
tions of the very central regions are watered by springs, either issuing 
from the surface of the plains or from the tops of curious conical emi- 
nences, evidently of volcanic origin ; these eminences varying from the 
size of a beehive to a considerable hill. Certain districts are found 
thickly grassed and watered by streams. Tracts of country, described 
by previous explorers as sandy wastes, were found clad in verdure; where 
one party almost perished of thirst, another was almost overwhelmed by 
a flood. Whether these natural obstacles to colonization will ever be 



382 THE world's fair. 

surmounted remains to be seen ; it may be that later investigation will 
prove that there are extensive tracts of country which are permanently 
watered, permanently drained, and which escape the desolations of the 
inland floods. But the picture which is drawn of the natives of Cen- 
tral Australia is sufficiently dreary to deter any but those of the strong- 
est hearts: "Wandering hundreds of miles from one well in the sandhills 
to another, from one dried-up water hole to another, brackish and salt. 
One small party is enough for any one camp, and the camps are too far 
apart for any gathering or increase into what can be called a tribe. They 
are here a miserable, weak race, struggling hard for existence in dry 
seasons and camping listlessly upon the lakes, lagoons and marshes in 
the wet seasons. They eat more rats than kangaroos in the plains, and 
more frogs than fish on the river banks. No equal tract of country in 
almost any climate supports so few men. The so-called deserts of Africa 
are richer in all life, vegetable, animal and human, beyond all compari- 
son." Over this vast table-land, now a desert and now a diversified 
plain, the aborigines wander, entirely naked, their lives so uncertain 
that they do not even build huts but are content with the shelter of 
large boughs or strips of bark. These rude shelters are called "mimis," 
and are usually made of the gum-tree bark. Under them they creep 
at night, their spears and war weapons stuck around, and throw them- 
selves upon the bare ground or upon a few opossum skins sewn together 
with kangaroo sinews. Even rats which they catch are often eaten raw, 
and if they discover a collection of fat grubs in a rotten tree, they have 
found a luxury indeed. The necessities of life have made it more neces- 
sary for the people of the interior to harmonize ; therefore there is more 
similarity in their language than in that of the Eastern and coast tribes, 
who are both civilized and quarrelsome. The natives of the interior 
are not even intelligent enough to have any general mythology or super- 
stition. Who were their forefathers? 

In certain caverns, on the western coast of the continent, an inter- 
esting collection of drawings or paintings has been discovered. The 
work is done in red, blue and yellow colors, probably painted with 
the same kind of clays which the natives use upon their bodies. 
Some of the figures are draped in long tunics, others in robes reaching 
to the feet, the face covered with a white drapery with holes left 
for the eyes and a double ring around the head. A variety of 
characters was also employed, not unlike those used by the natives 
of the Indian Archipelago. Some of the figures have head-dresses 
not unlike helmets. Near one of the caves is the profile of 



NATIVE DANCES, ^8^ 

a foreign gentleman, deeply cut and well executed. Whether these 
crude works of art were executed by the aborigines of the island who, 
undoubtedly, came from the northwest, z^/<^ the East India islands; or 
whether they are evidences of the early explorations of Chinese and 
Malayan navigators cannot be determined. We are told that in quite 
ancient times the Chinese were acquainted with these shores, and we 
know that the Siamese were as bold navigators as they. 

NATIVE DANCES. 

Or is it possible that the ancient Phoenicians extended their name 
to the wild coasts of Australia, and left there these mementoes, as well 
as a dance which is called the corrobbary or corroboree. The perform- 
ances which take place upon the occasion of this dance are said, in fact, 
to be nearly allied to the ancient religious rites of Assyria and Phoenicia. 
The performers are divided into five distinct classes, the greater body 
comprising about twenty-five young men, including five or six boys, 
whose faces and ribs are traced with white paint. Tied to their legs are 
bunches of gum leaves, upon which they beat as they stamp around. 
On each side of the young men stand two groups of girls clad only in 
scant feather skirts, beating time with bunches of leaves and by stamp- 
ing their feet. Two characters decorated with fantastic feather head- 
dresses, painted like the dancers, are followed by a savage who carries a 
long spear, from the top of which hangs a bunch of feathers. At last 
come two elderly men beating on rude instruments and singing or gab- 
bling in concert. The spearman seems to be the leader or director of 
ceremonies, and the spectators flock around the elderly singers and shout 
their applause as the dance progresses. The music is furnished by the 
singers, by two men who rattle some sticks together, by the young men 
and maidens with their gum leaves, by the waving of those grotesque 
head-pieces which are tipped with feathers, and by the regular stamp 
of all those who take part in the performance. When the young men 
have danced before the two old men and sat down, to rounds of applause, 
the men with the spear and the head-dresses take their turn. All seem 
now and then to respond to encores, and after an intermission, during 
which pipes are lighted and conversation is brisk, the interest centers 
around the spearman. Having gone through with a species of Highland 
fling, he stoops, plants his spear in the ground and stands in a stooping 
position behind it. The dancers go through with the same motions and 
form a circular body around the spear, also grasping it. The men with 
the head-dresses do the same ; one on each side of this spear-bound body; 



384 THE world's fair. 

both finally stand still, thrust in their hands and grasp the spear. At 
the same time all sink on their knees and begin to move away in a mass 
from the singers, with a sort of grunting noise, and, giving one long 
semi-grunt or groan (after the manner of the red kangaroo, as they say), 
disperse; the music and stamping gradually die away, and shouts and 
acclamations rend the air. 

There are dances of minor importance, which have been confounded 
with the corroboree. In detail, even, the latter seems to be uniform 
throughout the continent. A favorite war dance is that which reveals, 
by the light of huge fires, the same principals and lookers-on as were 
seen at the corroboree. Round a circle the blacks are gathered three 
and four deep. The music seems, however, to be principally furnished 
by the "gins" who drearily chant to the accompaniment of rude wind 
instruments, tom-toms and Jew's harps ; besides beating opossum skins 
which lie before them, with sticks and clubs. Now the chant dies into 
a wail, now swells into triumphant volume as the dance progresses. The 
chiefs with the spear and head-dresses are there waving their arms 
wildly about and uttering discordant cries. A party of young warriors 
now glide into the ring like cats, stooping, bending, whispering, looking 
cautiously about, their dark eyes gleaming with fiendish purpose. Sud- 
denly they dash upon a group, who are evidently important performers 
In the theatricals, and the party attacked rise up drowsily, as If from 
sleep, but are soon feebly resisting and crying for mercy. A struggle 
ensues, spears flash toward the unfortunates, clubs are hurled so as to 
barely miss their mark ; warriors, old men and women break the circle, 
and yelling like fiends close in upon the supposed victims of the midnight 
surprise. After an intermission the dance is commenced, the old men 
heap a fresh supply of logs upon the bonfires and bedlam Is worse con- 
founded. The flames leap up, fierce and high, and light up the gloomy 
bush for a long distance around ; the dancers writhe and distort themselves 
Into a state of partial delirium ; their teeth gleam like the tusks of wild 
animals, and their eye-balls roll more wickedly than the fiercest monarch 
of an Australian herd of cattle. When the dance Is at the height of 
deviltry, half a dozen effigies of women, made of saplings and clothed in 
red blankets, are dragged into the ring, to the chorus of hideous laugh- 
ter, and cast upon the largest fire. Some such demoniacal exhibition as 
this always accompanies these savage theatricals. 

A dance is often given by one tribe in honor of another which has 
sent Its chief men on a friendly visit. The reception committee, or 
principal warriors, seat themselves on the ground, cross-legged, and 
when the strano-ers have oriven an account of themselves the males of 




TRAVELING WOMEN. 



386 THE world's fair. 

both tribes salute each other by putting their hands on each others' 
shoulders and bending their heads forward so as to touch each others' 
breasts. If the travelers tell of deaths, which touch the feelings of the 
reception committee, there is violent weeping and wailing, the stoutest 
warrior seeming not to deem the exhibition an unmanly one. The war- 
riors from the far country carry all their weapons and the women also 
accompany them, bearing bags and baskets, firesticks, sleeping mats and 
children. These are taken in charge by the women of the receiving 
tribe, who lead them away to their huts. Then commence the prepara- 
tions for the dance ; the painting of bodies, and the manufacture of all 
sorts of devices from cockatoo and emu feathers, being the principal 
order of the day and night. The women roll up kangaroo skins which 
they are to beat with their hands ; others bring out flat sticks which they 
will clap together. The dancing of the two tribes shows as much differ- 
ence in manner and style of figures as if they were distinct nationalities. 
The dance commences by the receiving tribe going through with a hunt- 
ing pantomime ; imitating the actions of different animals, especially the 
kangaroo. After dancing for some time, the warriors pause suddenly 
with a deep gutteral exclamation and again start off, or drop all at once 
from a standing to a squatting posture and hop away with outstretched 
arms and legs. The women, who are adorned with opossum cloaks, 
bands of white swan down around the head, and bunches of cockatoo 
feathers in front, dance at the corners, passing behind the body of the 
principal male dancers ; while the females of the other tribe dance in a 
line parallel to that of the men, who carry short sticks on which are tied 
bunches of feathers. Soon the dancers advance in a body, bearing on 
top of a pole the rude figure of a warrior made of grass, reeds, kangaroo 
skins, feathers and paint. This is relegated to the rear, and two poles 
are advanced, having upon them a number of branches decorated with 
feathers and painted bark. After more evolutions the dancers of the 
two tribes meet, prick one another in the shoulders with their spears, and 
the formalities of the occasion are considered over. 

But whether these dances are of a religious or a political nature, 
it is certain that the Bora signifies a ceremony by which the young 
men become warriors and are admitted to all the privileges of the 
tribe. Previous to the ceremony they are obliged to undergo certain 
tests of their courage and fortitude, as well as to live alone in the bush. 
When the period of their probation is over, they are brought to the 
Bora ground which is usually a retired spot, on a slight elevation, 
level at the top. No white man has learned w^hat there' takes place. 
The women are excluded ; no one is allowed upon the ground who has 



NATIVE DANCES, 



387 



not been himself initiated. A large circle is scooped out surrounded 
by a wall of earth in which two openings are left, one through which 
the youths enter and the other through which they pass if they are 
found worthy, as kippers or full-fledged warriors. In the center of 
the ground is placed the rough efifigy of an emu, a bird which the Aus- 
tralian seems to view with mysterious reverence, and over whose body, 
when killed, he will usually mumble some sort of an incantation or 
prayer. When the young warriors appear to the world, they are seen 
to have a tooth or two knocked out, or a part of a finger cut off ; but 
why or how 'twas done is a secret which is carried to the grave with 
their spears and boomerangs. To divulge the secrets of the Bora would 
be followed by dire vengeance. As one says who has tried to worm 
out the secret: "At night, over the camp-fire, when the horses have 
been hobbled, the pipes lit, and a pannikin of grog poured out, the 
black boy, drawn into conversation by the master, for whom he has 
unbounded admiration, will sometimes wax communicative about the 
customs of his tribe ; but any question concerning the Bora only elicits 
a shake of the head and the reply: 'Supposs mine pialla you, black- 
fellow directly mumkull mine'" (If I told you the blacks would kill 
me at once). 

BURIAL CUSTOMS. 

A German missionary states : " At Moreton Bay, Queensland, a 
lad having died, several men gathered around the body and removed 
the head and the thick outer skin, which was rolled upon a stake, and 
dried over a slow fire. During this horrid ceremony the father and 
mother stood by, loudly weeping and lamenting ; and the thighs were 
then roasted and eaten by the parents. The liver, heart and entrails 
were divided among the warriors, who carried away portions on their 
spears ; and the skin and bones, together with the skull, were rolled up, 
and carried about by the parents in their grass bags or wallets." But 
this species of cannibalism is rather connected with the burial custom 
of the Australians than with their diet. They have nearly as many 
ways of disposing of their dead as there are tribes in the island. Some 
bury them in a crouching position, as do certain tribes in Southern 
Africa, and raise a small mound upon a platform of sticks placed over 
the mouth of the grave. The natives of New South Wales burn the 
body of the warrior after turning the face to the east, spears and 
weapons being arranged beside it. If he was slain in battle a platform 
is erected, upon v.-hich the corpse is placed cross-legged, being rubbed 
with a portion of its own fat mixed with ochre. Fires being kindled, 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



the friends and relatives' gather around and remain for ten days in 
perfect silence, two of their number being armed with boughs of trees, 
with which to drive away flies. At the end of this time the body is 
covered with a kind of mat formed of long reed grass, the face quite 
exposed. After several weeks the corpse is taken down and buried, 
having become smoked and dried by the ten days' fire ; the skull is 
converted into a drinking vessel by the nearest relative, and the bones 
are either buried or carried about by members of the tribe as incen- 
tives to courage. Favorite children who have died are sometimes 
eaten, placed in the forks of trees, or carried about in a bag placed 
upon the shoulders of the mother. How long the loathsome load is 
to be borne is not known, but when a weak, half-starved woman 

chooses this part, as she often 
does, there is still hope and 
there are possibilities for the 
most degraded of Australians. 
In the north of the continent 
there are tribes who fix their 
dead warriors in the forks of 
trees ; others who place them 
m hollow stumps, smearing 
the skulls and bones 
with red and white clay. 
Sad to relate, the aged and 
the weak meet with little 
sympathy either in life or 
death. The struggle for 
existence is so terrible that 
infanticide is common, and 
AN AUSTRALIAN GRAVE. thc notable absence of lame 

or otherwise incapacitated adults is accounted for by the savage reality 
of the survival of the fittest. The poor old women have their bodies 
crowded into badger holes, while those of the men are placed upon 
frameworks, and left to decay and to the crows ; the bones are after- 
wards collected and buried. 

The most savage of the Australian tribes seem to have some ideas, 
crude though they may be, in regard to punishment for murder. 
Attended by the chief men of the tribe, the culprit is led to a secluded 
spot, the widows or other near relatives of the deceased wailing and 
lacerating their bodies with sharp stone? as the company proceeds. Hav- 
ing chosen the ground, the acc-jser stands behind the criminal who 




BURIAL CUSTOMS. 389 

carries the spear with which the deed was done. The latter is obhged to 
hold out his right arm and receive a severe thrust in it at the hands of one 
of the near relatives of the deceased or a head man of the tribe. The 
punishment seems inadequate, but the black who executes it weeps and 
wails as if his sorrow were as much for the criminal as for the widows, 
who are seated on the ground ostensibly racked with uncontrollable 
grief. Their appearance, however, is rendered ludicrous by the caps of 
pipeclay which are upon their heads, these being the chief features of 
a widow's mourning habit. 

These extreme manifestations of grief do not touch the tender spots 
in many hearts, when it is remembered how depressed the woman is 
among the aborigines ; that although delicately molded she does all the 
hard work, such as preparing the food, bringing the wood for the fire and 
carrying the burdens ; that she shivers beyond the radius of the fire in 
cold weather, and in the heat of the day she toils on, her only relief 
being a bunch of wet grass on the head ; that her choice in the matter 
of marriage is not consulted, but that she is promised in infancy and 
when the proper time comes is borne away and considered a. wife, or 
gin ; that her body, if it is comely, is covered with the scars of spear 
wounds made by former wooers and those inflicted by her husband; 
and now that she is a widow, she descends as so much property to the 
nearest male relative of the deceased. When these things are remem- 
bered, and more abuses also, the poignancy of her grief may be ques- 
tioned ; but it is more than likely that if she acted as she felt, she would 
be suspected as having, directly or indirectly, caused the death of the 
brute. So she shrieks and raves, scratching her nose and cheeks and 
tearing her body Avith shells and pieces of flint, while the deceased is 
being buried, and as if still fearful that the tribe will look upon her man- 
ifestations as luke-warm, she returns to the grave alone to lacerate her- 
self afresh. 

AUSTRALIAN COW-BOYS. 

If the Australian has an occupation in the line of civilized life, it 
is in tending stock. Blackboys take readily to the saddle, and like 
their cousins the Bushmen, in Africa, have remarkably acute senses. 
Their bump of locality is as wonderful as the cattle they tend, which 
will strike across country for hundreds of miles and bring up with cer- 
tainty at their own station or ranch. The native stockman can track a 
man or beast for days when a white man could see no footmark or trace. 
He is lazy and fond of tobacco; with this supplied him and a good 
horse to mount, he is happy — unless he takes it into his head to return 



390 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

to grease and a kangaroo's skin, which is not an unusual resolve. His 
chief duty is to train the cattle so that they will know the limits within 
which they may graze. If they are new arrivals, before they are 
thoroughly broken in, they may take a notion to start for their former 
camp, seven or eight hundred miles away. They may have been taken 
along circuitous coast roads, i,ooo or 1,200 miles, and upon attempting 
to fix them to a new camp or run, some of them will escape the vigil- 
ance of their keepers. Through the thick forests of the West and over 
its arid plains they head, straight for their old home, two or three hun- 
dred miles inland from the route by which they were driven. The in- 
stinct which draws them unerringly to their far destination is one of na- 
ture's great mysteries. To prevent this breaking away for a deserted 
camp, the herdsman keeps the new arrivals well in eye and daily drives 
them on the run, and when camped they are kept there steadily for some 
hours ; so that after a few weeks the brutes are weaned from their old 
run and wedded to the new. Droughts and floods may now scatter 
them over hundreds of miles of country, but with the return of better 
times the majority of them will surely find their way to their own camp. 
The stragglers will be gathered, if possible, by the native herdsman ; in 
the great inland country where thousands of herds of cattle are pas- 
tured on one immense plain there can be no boundaries to the runs and 
the keepers' duties are increased. His work is not heavy, unless you 
except the time when the owners of the cattle agree upon a general 
muster, for the purpose of separating one man's herd from all the rest. 
Plains and woods are then scoured ; through thickets, along belts of shady 
timber, from one pool of water to the next, the cattle are driven by the 
herdsmen ; as the limits of each run are reached they know that most of 
the cattle they find are their own, for their neighbors have had due 
warning and started their herds to camp. Finally all of these scattered 
lots are collected and driven rapidly toward the camp whose owner 
makes all this commotion. The Australian cow-boy may now be called 
upon to assist in "drafting" the cattle. First the fat ones are driven 
out of the mob ; then the cows and calves to brand, and then the 
"strangers" who, with all possible care, will get mixed in with the drive. 

A DYING RACE. 

Sudden changes of temperature, insufficient food and shelter, with 
filthy habits, have made of the Australians a weak and decreasing race. 
In South Australia more is being done for the natives than in any other 
colony, and yet, as an example of the rapidity with which the tribes are 
dying out, the Sub-Protector of Aborigines states that the Narringerie 



A DYING RACE. 



391 



who in 1842 numbered 3,200 persons, are now nearly extinct. This 
diminution cannot be accounted for by wars with other tribes, or with 
whites, for the Narringerie have been affected more by civiHzation than 
any other tribe, and hve at peace with the whites. It has been deter- 
mined that the largest ratio of deaths and the smallest of births are to 
be found among those blacks who have definitely settled. 

Consumption is their great scourge ; consumption, intemperance 
and other causes are so thinning the ranks of the aborigines that 
authorities are slow in allowing 50,000 as the entire native population 
of Australia. Fifty thousand people spread over a continent as large 
as the United States! The race is dying out, and what is most sin- 
gular is that the mortality does not perceptibly diminish when the Aus- 
tralian becomes partially civilized ; the seeds of decay seem to have 
been firmly implanted in the whole race, and in spite of alleviating 
conditions, they persist in bearing continual and bounteous harvests of 
death. It often happens that a tribe which is comparatively strong in 
its native forest adopts many of the habits of the white man, and yet 
retains enough of the old to make the change a positive detriment ; 
such as wearing clothes in the day time and leaving them entirely off 
at night, without much improving the means of shelter. Medicine 
and other assistance are furnished sick natives by the Government, but 
they either refuse to take the medicine or, having taken it, they neglect 
all sanitary precautions. Next to consumption, which carries away 
more than one-half their number, measles and small-pox, which they 
have received from the whites, create the greatest havoc among them. 
Fevers are quite unknown to them. The time is not far distant when 
all the tribes of Australia will follow in the footsteps of the extinct 
Tasmanians and of the fast disappearing Maoris of New Zealand. 

The attempt to reclaim the aborigines from their savage life has 
been only partially successful, partly because of their degraded physical 
condition and partly because of the vast territory through which the 
sparse population is scattered. Both the government and religious 
denominations have established hospitals, poor houses and schools for 
their benefit. But even the most promising of the natives seem quite 
isolated in a civilized community. They cannot marry. They have no 
certain means of subsistence. They have no real companionship. 
When they have become apparently civilized, therefore, many return 
to the bush. A sample case : The officers of a British ship took away 
with them a bright native who remained with them for several months. 
He was a waiter at the gun-room mess, never tasted spirits, was atten- 
tive, cheerful, and remarkably clean. When the vessel returned to 



392 THE world's FAIR. 

Swan River, after a voyage along the western coast, the Austrahan, 
who had seemed quite civilized, deserted the ship, and the next seen 
of him was a savage — greasy, almost naked, painted all over and the 
hero of several murders. The most effective work of reclamation is 
going on among the children of natives as well as those of mixed 
blood. The condition of the latter is particularly hard ; for they are 
outcasts of both blacks and whites. Remembering the exalted opinion 
which the Australian has of the white man, it is probable that his 
custom of sacrificing a half-caste at his corroboree has a religious sig- 
nificance. He would kill and eat the luckless one, just as it is the rule 
in some tribes for favorite children who have died a natural death to 
be devoured by their parents ; by thus eating flesh in which coursed 
the blood of a white man, he would honor the memory of some one 
of his tribe whose soul was embodied in the half-caste. But it is 
time to turn to a picture which is not so uncanny. 

CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 

That vast expanse of country known as North and South Aus- 
tralia, and stretching through the continent for two thousand miles, 
from ocean to ocean, is controlled by the government of the latter 
colony. From Fort Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south is 
strung the transcontinental telegraph; despite hostile savages, dense 
forests (rather than plains) of kangaroo grass, deserts of hard, sharp 
plants called spinifex, and drought and flood, England and her colonies 
were thus bound together. Of this slice taken out of the middle of 
the continent — nearly one-third of its body — little need be said, except 
of the southern division, or South Australia proper. Its people are 
among the most vigorous and enterprising of the colonists, and besides 
connecting the central portions of their territory with railroads and 
telegraphs, have already commenced the construction of an iron line 
northward, which is designed eventually to follow the electric current 
across the continent. All the colonies are connected with each other 
by telegraph, except Western Australia; immigrants are now coming 
into this colony more quickly than during previous years, and ere long 
it will be brought into the community of states, via the telegraph and 
railroad. South Australia is especially interested in bringing this about; 
for in the furtherance of her broad schemes of public improvement, the 
inexhaustible forests of Western Australia are invaluable. The jarrah, 
a tree whose timber is as hard as mahogany, is there found in boundless 
forests, and several lines of railroad have been constructed to the coast 



//I 



CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 



393 



whence the wood is shipped to India in the form of sleepers or piles for 
her railroads ; there seems to be no limit to the durabilit)- of this wood. 
Taking the country as a whole, with its natural advantages and splendid 
harbors, South Australia will compare favorably with any other portion of 
the continent. The territory is particularly favored with several lakes of 
some size, and its soil is fertilized with small rivers and streams. 
Thousands of square miles of land are covered with wheat, which ranks 
among the finest in the world ; and this too when the soil is merely 
turned up by the plow and the seed thrown in, )^ear after year. Nothing 
like a rotation of crops is ever attempted. Its wheat, sheep and copper 
are what has made South Australia a prosperous colony. Its people 

have an occasional gold flurry, but its 
wealth has rested, as a whole, upon the 
basis of wheat and wool. The population 
of South Australia has never been con- 
taminated by convict blood, which cannot 
be said of any other colony in the coun- 
tr)' ; in fact, one of the principles of its 
charter was that convicts were never to be 
,^^ admitted within its domain. 

The smallest, most populous and rich 
est of the Australian colonies is Victoria, 
which was formerly a penal colony in 
New South Wales. The discovery of 
gold in 1 85 1 marks the period of its sep- 
aration from the mother colony, and of its 
first strides towards wealth . As would 
be expected, the railroads of Victoria are 
more complete than those of any other colony, and points which are 
not yet reached by rail are connected by stage lines. It has the me- 
tropolis of the continent (Melbourne), and about a fifth of the 100,000 
Chinamen who are inhabitants of the country. 

New South Wales is the oldest of the colonies, being organized 
over a century ago. Subsequently Victoria and Queensland were split 
from it. The famous Captain Cook brought the land first to the notice 
of Englishmen, naming the country, and bringing back such favorable 
reports that the government established a convict station at Botany 
Bay, a few miles south of Port Jackson. Its mineral resources are great. 
Besides gold and silver, extensive coal deposits have been developed. 
The country is particularly adapted to sheep raising, the salt bush 
which covers so great an extent of land to the west being very fattening, 




A NATIVE VICTORIAN'. 



394 THE world's fair. 

but rendering the soil worthless for agricultural purposes. With Sidney 
as a nucleus, New South Wales has of late years made great strides as 
a railroad colony, and in connection with Queensland to the north, is 
fast getting to a point where it may control the system. Its line is 
complete to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, and a road is being 
projected across Queensland to the northern coast, or the Gulf of 
Carpentaria. When this is completed and the lines are extended 
between Melbourne and Adelaide, the whole of Eastern Australia, 
as far inland as is necessary, will be tapped with railroads, and the 
northern and southern shores of its most developed colonies will be in 
communication. The central railroad, then, by way of the great trans- 
continental telegraph, would be the prime factor in the development of 
of Central and Western Australia. 

Queensland is divided by the Australian Cordilleras, from north to 
south ; these mountains also constitute a line of division for the chief 
occupations of the colonists. Rich plains and valleys, watered by numer- 
ous streams, lie in the strip of country between the range and the coast. 
In addition to wheat, the farmer cultivates maize and potatoes, sugar 
and cotton, coffee and tobacco ; the horticulturist has from which to 
choose, the fig, peach, plum, lemon, orange, pomegranate, pine-apple, 
banana and a score of other lesser fruits, of both a tropical and temperate 
nature. It is also a fine cattle country. For a thousand miles to the west 
of the mountains the country is found to roll away in vast swells of herbage 
over whose tender roots millions of sheep are nibbling their way into 
usefulness. Queensland alone is an evidence of the tremendous 
increase in this element of Australia's wealth, she havingnearly as many 
sheep as the whole continent had twenty-five years ago (16,000,000). 
The advance guard of this wooly population arrived in New South Wales 
less than a century ago, in the shape of a flock of eight merino sheep. 
Wool as an article of export is now closely pressing gold for first 
place. 

It is in Queensland and New South Wales that the Australian 
forest is seen in its greatest beauty and diversity The forests of the 
west and southwest are composed chiefly of gum trees, with their leathery 
leaves and stately trunks, and of different varieties of oak, some of which 
are quite leafless. As a rule the leaves of both tree and shrub are ever- 
green, and of a firm texture, being perfectly adapted to meet the pre- 
vailing dryness of the climate. Toward the north some of the character- 
istics of Asiatic scenery appear, to give more variety and delicacy to 
forest life. All along the coasts are streams of considerable breadth, 
runnine oarallel with the ocean, alono- whose banks and over whose 



CIVILIZED AUSTRALIA. 395 

waters are matted together the tropical luxuriousness of Southeastern 
Asia ; their head-waters are in the mountains, springing from the juice- 
less vegetation of a dry, rocky country, but as they reach the lowlands 
they flow placidly and warmly through the tropics of Australia. On 
descending from a mountain of the Cordilleras into one of these forests, 
a government surveyor was so struck with the contrast that he exclaimed: 
" We had passed into another climate ; the dry, arid soil of the stringy- 
bark forest, with its stunted vegetation, was exchanged, as if by magic, 
for a damp, humid region, sheltered from the wind by colossal barriers 
of rock, and presenting a wealth of foliage almost inconceivable. The 
graceful cabbage-palm towered to a height of seventy and even a 
hundred feet; the Indian fig reared its tortuous branches high into the 
air, clothed with rich draperies of curious and spreading parasites, and 
the graceful tree ferns, thirty feet high, flourished in the warm and damp 
atmosphere of these windless dells. In short, nothing can exceed the 
beauty of the scenery as the traveler descends the difficult and winding 
path that leads down the mountain to the rich pastures below ; here and 
there a group of palms shoot upwards toward the sky ; and on either 
side the forest is so rank with creepers, ferns and vines as to be quite 
impassable. Here we gathered wild raspberries, and beheld the gigan- 
tic stag-horn fern growing from the trunks of the loftiest trees." 

Fancy the lofty Cordilleras with hundreds of miles of grassy plains 
stretching away to the west ; numerous streams flowing down the eastern 
watershed, and pushing their way sluggishly through this tangle of wild 
nutmeg trees, huge banyans, fig-trees and palms which skirt the base of 
the range for many miles, finally veering toward the coast, and after 
watering a fertile region of grains and fruits, dropping quietly into the 
sea. This, in miniature, is Queensland and New South Wales. 

But the secret of rapid settlement of ocean colonies is found not 
alone in richness of soil. Good harbors of refuge are a necessity. 
Queensland is rather unfortunate in this respect, since fourteen hundred 
miles, or nearly one-half of her coast line, is made dangerous to naviga- 
tion by a continuous coral reef, called the Great Barrier. It is the largest 
formation of its kind in the world — and that is all the honor which is 
attached to it. 

The only vessels which are seen in the vicinity of the reef are those 
which go nosing around in the nooks and crannies, like some sly 
animals, in the search for huge sea-slugs. These ugly-looking but tender 
animals are about two feet in length, and lie buried in the coral sand, 
their presence only being denoted by their long feathery tentacles, which 
appear above the surface. The Kanakas are a tribe of natives of the 



396 THE world's fair. 

northeastern coast regions, who have made themselves remarkably pro- 
ficient either in spearing the slugs when found in shallow water, or 
diving for them down the perpendicular sides of the reefs, underneath 
them, and far under water, fighting the shark and other ocean monsters 
in their search for the repulsive-looking things, and in the interest of 
their masters. The voyage along the great reef may last for years. 
The usual plan is for the owner of a vessel to hire several good native 
divers, and choosing some island as his headquarters, plant a patch of 
ground to vegetables as a safeguard against scurvy. As the fish are 
caught they are split open, boiled, pressed flat and dried in the sun. 
They are then smoked over a wood fire and packed for shipment to 
China. The crews work on shares, and if the trip is fortunate they 
may return with their boats heavily laden aft,r a lapse of a few months 
only. 

There are some good ports on the extreme southeastern coast of 
Queensland; but New South Wales from one extremity of its coast line 
to near the other, boasts not of big coral reefs, but of the finest harbors 
in the world, chief among them being that of Port Jackson, at Sydney. 
Victoria is likewise favored ; and South Australia to the Great Austra- 
lian Bight. The bight, which is lined with steep and rugged cliffs, makes 
useless for purposes of navigation or refuge the southwestern coast of 
South Australia, and half of the southern coast of Western Australia. 
Then comes a passable harbor or two before you reach the southwestern 
extremity of the continent, and not another one along the low and sandy 
western coast and the high and rocky northwestern coast of Western 
Australia. In fact, it is this natural defect more than- all else combined 
which has retarded the growth of the colony. The coast of Northern 
Australia, especially along the Gulf of Carpentaria, has some of the best 
harbors of the continent, though they are not so well known as the 
southern ports. They lie principally on the western shore of the gulf, 
the eastern side formed by York Peninsula being low and dangerous. 




«^!<*ar>K<*^ 



MELANESIAN AND MICRONESi/MN wlm, uT^S and IMPLEMENTS. 




THE POLYNESIANS. 

pTlf^^HE Society, Marquesas, Hawaiian, Feejee, Samoa, Friendly 
I^-JU^ and Caroline Islands are the best known localities where 
^^*ji^ | good specimens of this muscular, warlike, cannibalistic 

frace may be found. They differ somewhat in personal 
appearance, although as a rule they are above the average 
height, symmetrically built — in fact, superb specimens of 
physical manhood. 
THE FEEJEE CANNIBALS. 

The group takes its name from the island to the windward, and its 
people have acquired a i lecidedly unenviable reputation as possessing 
all the worst characterii tics of the blood-thirsty savage. They are 
described as tall, sleek i fid portly, with stout limbs and short necks, 
with bushy hair joined t ) a round beard to which mustaches are often 
added. The men dress in a sort of sash of white, brown or figured 
cloth, using generally about six yards, though a wealthy man will wear 
one. nearly one hundred yards long. The women usually wear their 
hair short, or dene up in little twisted bits, that hang down like pieces 
of string ; occasionally they go to the other extreme and dress the hair 
in huge and grotesque forms. 

The men do not tattoo their bodies but paint them, especially 
their faces, which they ornament with blotches, bars and stripes of red 
and black. Some of them only cover the forehead with a shiny black 
paint. They particularly pride themselves on the huge boar's tusk 
which hangs from the neck and falls over the breast. The Feejeeans 
make a business of catching young boars and knocking out the front 
teeth of the upper jaw so that a free field may be given for the tusks 
to grow. The nearer the tusks approach to a circle the more beautiful 
they are considered. The native man of any standing wears a gauze- 
like turban. 

Both sexes paint their bodies and besmear them with oil, besides 
397 



398 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



wearing enormous ear ornaments. In former times neither sex wore 
any clothing to spealc of, but now near the settlements, in addition to 
the garments which extend from the waist to the knees the women are 
attired in a little loose jacket. Women are tattooed, but only on parts 
of the body which are covered. 

HIGH-TONED SOCIETY. 

A native chief squats upon the ground, like a common Feeiee, but 
his person is sacred and often believed to be divine. He tills the 
ground and works otherwise with his hands, but he must be addressed 
in a peculiar language which is chanted by his subjects. They must 

approach him crouched or 
creeping and even worm 
their way over the floor 
of his house. It would be 
as much as one's life is 
worth to cross him from 
behind. When at sea 
the canoe is required to 
pass the chief's boat on 
the inside. If a chief 
stumbles or falls, his at- 
tendants must do the same. 
A dreadfully amus- 
ing story is told of one 
of these grim old chiefs, 
who boasted, no doubt, 
of the number of persons 
he had eaten, but did not 
relish the idea of being 
A FEEJEE CHIEF. made into meat himself. 

He was out at sea one day with a number of his warriors when their 
great canoe capsized. For some reason they were unable to right it 
and struck out for the shore with the sharks after them. Thereupon 
the chief called upon his two-score of warriors to protect his sacred 
carcass by forming a circle round him. The body of swimmers then 
moved on toward the shore, and as often as one common warrior was 
snapped up by the tigers of the ocean the gap was heroically closed ; 
and so the person of the chief was not reached, although he left 
behind all but half a dozen of his brave body-guard. One should not 




HIGH-TONED SOCIETY. 



399 



recklessly make light of the loss of human life, but surely this strangely 
true occurrence, which is said to have happened only a few years 
ago, is a wonderful combination of humor and pathos. This is but 
illustrative of the value which the people, and particularly the chiefs, 
place upon human life. 

CANNIBALS AND BAKALOS. 

The Feejeeans are, in fact, cannibals from choice, and not from 
motives of revenge. They like the taste of the human body, which 
they call long pig. Europeans, however, who go among them are 
partially reassured when they learn that the native little relishes the 
flesh of a white man, as it is usually tainted with tobacco and other 
distasteful things. They pre- 
fer the flesh of women to k— --^^^s^-ws,! 
that of men; notwithstand- f'S.-*:. tt^ _^ 
ing which, they will not ^^ 
allow the female a single; 
taste of human flesh. This |, 
custom seems more horrible 
when one is told that thej 
Feejeean, who has not been 
civilized, does not confine I 
his appetite to his enemies, 
but will look upon a villager, 
or (if he is a chief) upon ai 
member of his tribe, asj 
thouQfh he were an Enalish- 
man looking over a head of I 
beef. Fat widows especially 
are the chief objects of his 
pursuit and of all portions of the human body he considers the thick 
of the arm the choicest. 

The phrase long pig is not a white man's joke, but is an actual 
expression of Feejeean vernacular. Pork, or real pig, is called by 
the natives puaka dina ; a human body puaka balava, or long pig. 
Neither is eaten raw but is stewed in their large earthen pots, with a 
variety of savory herbs. Some of the skipper's stories are told in 
the past tense, the incidents having occurred in years gone by before 
these cannibals had been touched by any sort of humanity from the 
outer world — for instance : "If a man was to be cooked whole, they 




A CHIEF'S HOUSE. 



400 



THE world's fair. 



would paint and decorate his face as though he were ahve, and one of 
the chief persons of the place would stand by the corpse, which was 
placed in a sitting position, and talk in a mocking strain to it for some 
time, when it would be handed over to the cooks, who prepared it and 
placed it in the oven, filling the inside of the body with hot stones, so 
that it would be well cooked all through." 




A FEEJEE CANNIBAL. 

After a battle the victors would cook and eat many of the slain at 
once; others were dragged to their temples and offered to their gods, 
the priests getting a large share of the victims. Occasionally a prisoner 
would be bound and placed in an oven, or be forced to eat a portion of 
his own body. 

The most famous cannibals kept a record of the bakalos they 
had devoured, the number often runnin;^ into the hundreds ; and even 



CANNIBALS AND BAKALOS. 



4OJ 



at the present time it is not phenomenal to meet a Feejee brave who 
boasts of having eaten his man. On one of the islands there used to 
be a regular arena, around which were stone seats for the spectators and 
in the middle of which was a huge bowlder. Two stalwart natives 
seized the bound victim, each taking hold of an arm and leg, and rush- 
ing to the bowlder they dashed his brains out, the spectators shouting 
their applause. The time was when " no important business could be 
commenced without slaying one or two human beings as a fitting inau- 
guration. Was a canoe to be built, then a man must be slain for the lay- 
ing of its keel ; and, if possible, were the builder a very great chief, a 
fresh man for every new timber that was added. More were to be used 
at its launching as rollers to aid its passage to the sea, and others were 




POLVNESI \\ BEAUTIES. 



slain to wash its deck with blood and to furnish a feast of human flesh 
considered so desirable on such occasions; and after it was afloat, still 
more victims were required at the first taking down of the mast." 

When a chief, or other great man, feels a great craving come over 
him for some plump woman or child, he says that his back tooth aches 
and that only human flesh can cure it. The stories which these old skip- 
pers tell, who have sailed in cannibal waters for years, are enough to make 
one have a continual procession of nightmares. As intimated, the 
natives call the human body to be eaten the bakalo, and the tale goes 
that when the chief gets hold of a particularly choice bakalo he reserves 
it for himself entire, merely cooking the flesh from time to time so that 



402 



THE WORLDS FAIR. 



it will not become quite putrid. Those who die a natural death are not 
eaten, but if a luscious native should be killed in one of their many broils 
and be gotten safely under ground, his relatives will have to watch his 




grave closely in order to scare away the ghouls who come after the body. 
There is little doubt but that the Feejeeans, as a people, are still canni- 
bals of an uncompromising nature, but exactly to what extent they par- 
take of puaka balava cannot be ascertained by living man. 



SOCIETY, HIGH AND LOW. 

SOCIETY, HIGH AND LOW 



403 



Feejeean society is divided into castes or grades, viz.: (i), kings 
and queens ; (2), chiefs of large districts or islands ; (3), chiefs of 
towns, priests and ambassadors ; (4), distinguished warriors of low birth, 
chiefs of the carpenters, and chiefs of the turtle catchers ; (5), common 
people ; (6), slaves of war. When a chief dies the order of succession 
is his next brother, his eldest son or his eldest nephew. His dignity is 
fixed by the number of wives he has, and his sister's son is even a person 
of greater importance than his nephew on his brother's side ; for he may 
claim anything except the chief's own wives and home, though he reside 
in another district. He is 
sacred, or taboo. A chief 
may protect anything with a 
taboo, from the life of one 
of his great men to a favorite 
boar. The fact that such 
sacredness has been imposed 
upon anything by chief or 
priest is indicated b}^ certain 
marks which the natives un- 
derstand. Cocoa-palms and, 
in fact, whole crops are some- 
times thus protected. Cer- 
tain actions or habits may 
also be tabooed ; for instance^ 
women may paint with red 
and other colors, but black 
is strictly taboo to them. 

As with most of the 
lower grades in savage life, the degree of crime is fixed by the rank of 
the offender and of his victim. Offenses against chastity, however, 
witchcraft, incendiarism and infringement of a taboo, are usually visited 
with death, the executing instrument being a musket, noose or club. 
Disrespect to a chief and treason are inexcusable, although in these 
cases it sometimes happens that father will suffer for son, or friend for 
friend, it seeming to make little difference to these blood-thirsty people 
who dies so long as a life is sacrificed. 

Europeans who have been cured of serious complaints by native doc- 
tors, or old women, have great stories to tell of the wonderful knowledge 
they possess of the uses of herbs. The old women, they say, take you 




A CIVILIZED GIRL. 



404 



THE WORLDS FAIR. 



in hand and bring you decoctions and infusions of leaves, which they 
make you drink, whilst they stand by to see that you save none of the 
leaves and so learn their secrets. If they send you medicines, the leaves 
they consist of are always chewed or pounded out of shape. Their 
knowledge of poisons is great and is extensively used by chiefs for 
political purposes. The operation of some of the poisons is slow though 
fatal, so that the relatives of the deceased do not at the time suspect the 
stranger, who has so ingratiated himself that they have given the health 
of the victim into his care. 

As would be inferred from the disposition of the Feejeean, he is a 
warrior by nature. He usually goes armed with a musket, battle-axe, 




WOMEN OF TONGA. 



club, bow, spear or sling. His club is an Irishman's shillalah, which he 
throws with deadly precision ; and palisades and breastworks adorn his 
mountain strongholds. 

THE TONGESE. 



These people, the natives of the Tonga, or Friendly Islands, have 
nearly all been Christianized and civilized to some extent, being 
governed by one chief called King George. They are thus able to con- 
centrate their forces, and have even planted colonies on the Feejee Islands 
in spite of the opposition of their neighbors. In former times the Tonga 
Islands were governed by a spiritual chief, who claimed descent from the 
gods. He was called the "Tui Tonga" — chief of Tonga. For more 



THE TONGESE. 405 

than half a century the king has usurped his authority, although 
the office and the spiritual chief still exist in a shadowy way. He has 
his house, into which, uninvited, King George cannot enter, and when 
he comes within, as a mark of respect, he must seat himself at once. To 
stand before him would be an insult. The very name of Tonga-tabu, 
which has been given to the Tonga, or Friendly Islands, originated from 
the fact that the principal island was the residence of the Tui-Tonga; 
hence Tonga-tabu, or sacred Tonga. We commence also to get at 
the significance of the English word taboo. 

ROYAL REFORMS. 

The Tongese have been enthusiastically described as being blessed 
with a delightful color, very much resembling a cup of good coffee 
with a great deal of rich cream in it. The people, especially the 
women, have dark and lustrous eyes. Their dress consists of a cloth 
fastened round the w^aist which hangs below the knees. Some time ago 
the king, who has been brought under the influence of missionaries and 
European ideas, attempted to enforce a law that the men should wear 
regular shirts and trousers of fabric, in place of the native "vala,"or 
waist-cloth similar to that worn by the women. This threatened to put 
a stop to the important industry of manufacturing "tappa" (native 
cloth), besides being distaseful to them. The law was therefore repealed. 
Although it was expected that the women would support the dress 
reform, the pinafore in which they often appear when before Europeans 
is cast off upon every possible occasion and pretext. 

In some of the larger towns, where churches have been established 
and European ideas reign supreme, the native women appear in public 
with bonnets and hats trimmed with feathers and flowers. They used 
to go bareheaded, or garlanded with wreaths and natural flowers, as 
many of the Tongese do at the present time. The climate of the 
islands is very hot, and there was nothing immodest in the old fashions; 
the men, however, have carried the day for comfort. It would seem 
that the king has a tremendous itching for making laws. Both men and 
women smoke. King George conceived that it would be more proper 
that women should eschew the little, fragrant, native cigarette ; a decree 
which was promulgated to that effect caused such a hubbub that the 
royal legislator allowed its repeal. King George, furthermore, prohib- 
ited the men of his islands from indulging in the time-honored custom 
of tattooing themselves ; but a lust)- young brave — who is a correct judge 
of beauty — is seen occasionally sneaking over to a neighboring island of 



4o6 



THE world's fair. 



the Samoan group and undergoing the operation, which sets off his soft, 
brown skin to such advantage. 

HOME MANUFACTURES. 

The Tongese, in common with all the Polynesians, are extremely 
fond of kava, a drink made from the root of a species of pepper. The 
dry root is pounded between two stones, until enough material is ready 
for the large wooden bowl, which is placed before the compounder, 
whose operations have attracted to the house quite a company. The 




TONGESE BRAIDED WORK. 



powder is placed in this vessel and a cocoa-nut shell full of water is 
poured on to it, after which the operator squeezes the mass to a pulp, 
grinding it between his palms until his temples throb, that he may get 
all the good out of it. Water is being added constantly. The stuff is 
then strained through a bundle of fibrous material, and the particles of 
dried root thrown aside, after which the kava is served in half cocoa- 
nut shells. Inexperienced drinkers insist that the liquid tastes more like 
soap-suds than anything else, although constant practice is said to over* 
come the delusion. A native drink, which any one might appreciate, is 



THE OLD AND THE NEW. 407 

made by squeezing the juice of partly ripened oranges into a quantity 
of cocoa-nut milk, flavored slightly with capsicum. 

Tonga women are skillful manufacturers of the gnatoo, or cloth 
made from the white mulberry, which goes into the valas of both sexes, 
their blankets and curtains. The outer bark of the tree is useless, the 
white inner bark being rolled up and soaked in water. This is then 
placed upon the squared side of a piece of palm wood, and the women 
beat out the pulpy strips with wooden mallets into a firm piece of cloth. 
Long, narrow pieces are joined with arrowroot and then beaten together, 
so that very large pieces are made, sometimes nearly one hundred feet 
square. After being beaten a week or two the cloth is stretched and 
painted with odd patterns. The stamping process is this: Onto a large 
piece of bark they fasten round thin twigs in the desired pattern, which 
they place under the unpainted cloth and upon which they press in order 
to get a slight marking. This is then painted with darker stamps. The 
colors are fixed by heat. The cheerful dispositions of the women are 
never more clearly brought out than by catching a glimpse of them at 
their work. Sometimes several of them will be working away at one 
log, and, not satisfied with the noise they themselves make, they will get 
boys to come and hammer away at the end of the trunk and beat time 
to their labors. Some of the braided work of these women is also very 
fine. 

THE OLD AND THE NEW. 

The old religion of the Tongese consisted in a belief in good, 
mischievous and evil gods, and in the immortality of the souls of nobles 
and chiefs. Their heaven was on a large island northwest of Tonga, 
called Bolutu. Human virtue consisted in paying respect to the gods, 
nobles and aged persons ; in defending one's rights ; in honor, justice, 
patriotism, friendship, modesty, fidelity, chastity, filial love, patience, and 
religious observances. When the Europeans first came among them 
one of their sayings was, "as selfish as a Papalagi." Their burial grounds 
are carefully tended, being sanded and kept clear of weeds. All 
the tombs are beautified and marked with a layer of small black stones, 
bright shells and coral. In some islands of the group, says a traveller, 
where no stones are found, the mourners of the lately dead repair 
to the volcanoes, Koa or Tofao, where, amidst the very smoke that 
arises from the living fires at the summit, they seek these pebbles for 
their graves. When pagans, the natives were devoted to war. They 
offered human sacrifices, and cut off their little fingers and toes as pro- 
pitiatory offerings to the gods. As stated, the nobles went to heaven 



4o8 



THE world's fair. 



on the island of Bolutu, but the poor people remained in the world to 
feed upon ants and lizards. 

There may be some basis of truth in the following regarding the 
royal guard, which is told by an English tourist, for since the islands have 
fallen under the influence of the missionaries, most of the martial spirit 
of the people has disappeared: "On Sundays the old king generally 
goes to church, and it is then one of the occasions upon which the body- 
guard appears. He has two men who are dressed up in some ridiculous 
red uniform, and these, on Sundays, stand at his gate and present arms 
in the most proper manner as the king goes out. But the instant he 
has passed through, the royal guard have to turn and run as fast as ever 
they can, by a back way to the church door, where, breathless but grave, 

y present arms 
in upon his Maj- 
y's entrance. 
ie time ago the 
1 r was out in the 
Qtry, where there 
some slight dis- 
1 :tion among the 
1 ibitants, who had 
shown their loy- 
1 ^ b)' moving the 
wooden barriers 
which are erected at 
the entrance of the 
towns to keep out 
the pigs. At the 
sight of this obstruc- 
tion his Majesty was incensed and forthwith ordered his guard to 
charge the barricade. This they instantly did, with the only result of 
completely doubling up their bayonets and having to come home again 
with their weapons over their shoulders, twisted into semicircles, for 
all the world like a party of reapers." 

It may be added to the above, in all seriousness, that King 
Georo-e himself is a constant preacher, and when in the pulpit is 
impressive and earnest. Under his honest, though often somewhat 
over-zealous rule, the Tongese are making greater improvements than 
any other of the Polynesian islanders. Several printing presses have 
already been put in operation, with his hearty sanction. Many of the 
women can sew, and a great number of the natives have learned to 





NATIVE FASHION. 



THE SAMOANS. 



read and write, both in their native tongue and in 
have even been taught arithmetic and geography. 

THE SAMOANS. 



EngUsh. 



409 
A few 



The Samoans are a race of warriors who have no such mildly civil- 
ized ideas as the Tongese. For many years the people have engaged in 
civil strife. They were governed by one dynasty for generations untold, 
but finally the islands were invaded by the Tongese and a great warrior 
barely saved them from being overrun by the enemy. His descendants 
and the descendants of the old royal family have been fighting for con- 
trol of the whole group of islands ever since. 

Furthermore, this 
state of affairs suits the 
tribal character. So that 
now and then the adhe- 
rents of the ancient cause 
will surprise a village of 
the new, or the king's 
party, and cutting off as 
many masculine heads as 
they can reach, they will 
rush to their canoes with 
them and paddle back to 
their island, or return to 
their camp and present 
their trophies to their chief. 
If the raid has been more 
successful than usual, and 
besides committing such 
deviltries they have been 
able to cut down the palms 
and bread-fruit trees of 
the rival village, there is 
great rejoicing ; the heads are heaped into the middle of the public square 
and every man of the attacking part)' has become a hero. It frequently 
happens, however, that these raids are rendered harmless through the 
efforts of the women, who have friends and relatives in both the new and 
the old parties, and who therefore give timely warning of the premeditated 
attacks. The old party is distinguished from the new by a piece of red 
material which is twisted in the long hair of each warrior; his enemies 
wear a white cockade. 




A SAMOAN GIRL. 



A TATTOOED WARRIOR. 4I I 

A TATTOOED WARRIOR. 

The Samoan warrior is a sight to behold, as a tattooed being. Both 
front and back are covered with the most intricate designs, so that the 
man looks as if he were clothed in a delicate garment of red, blue and 
brown. It takes several months for the whole process to be completed 
— and months of torture; they must be. At about the age of seventeen 
the young men are taken in hand by the professional artist who first 
lightly traces the designs upon the skin. He then takes a bone instru- 
ment with very fine teeth which are covered with coloring matter, places 
it upon the body and drives the teeth through the skin with a mallet. 
The tattooer has instruments of different degrees of fineness and the 
precision of his work is simply marvelous. The decorations begin below 
the knee and completely cover the thighs, back and front. All the 
designs are connected by narrow stripes running from the spine around 
the sides. The hair is done 
up in large knots, pitched at 
many different angles, or may 
be shaved from the head so 
as to leave a narrow ridge 
down the center or a simple 
tuft in front. 

The women mostly cut 
their hair short, although it 
IS sometimes left to grow in a "^-^^ protector, 

bushy mat. It is curly and elastic, and generally decorated with flowers. 
Both sexes, in fact, appear to be passionately fond of flowers. Hair, 
neck, waist and every conceivable portion of the female body is liable 
to be ornamented with separate gems or wreaths ; while the men often 
stick a flower jauntily behind the ear or fasten the petals to the cheek. 
This simple love of flowers is also noticed among other Polynesians. 

The dress is much the same as the Tongese. The men average 
about five feet in height, are erect and proud in their bearing and have 
straight and well rounded limbs; the women are generally slight in 
figure, symmetrical, and easy and graceful in their movements. The 
nose is usually straight and the mouth large with full lips. 

HOUSES AND MATS. 

A Samoan house is a picture set in a wreath of flowers. The 
bread-fruit tree is used in its construction and the thatching is of wild 
sugar cane. The house is as clean as a white sheet of paper, with its 




412 THE world's FAIR. 

floor of loose pebbles and. its surrounding pavement of stones. Air is 
allowed to freely enter, but the sunlight is excluded, as the roof comes 
down to within a few feet of the ground at the eaves. Many mats upon 
the floor, curtains of native cloth, wooden pillows and a chest, with a 
specially large mat which is kept among the rafters for the visitor, about 
include the furnishings. The cooking for the household is done outside, 
which is another source of comfort in the hot weather. Samoa is a land 
of freshness — houses, flowers, people are all fresh, or happy, hospitable 
and clean. One is apt to sink into a sort of stupor during the hot sea- 
son, however, or be taken with what the native calls "mat fever" — be 
unable to leave your mat — for it is like one continuous Turkish bath. 

Speaking of the mat — it plays a most important part in the life of 
a Somoan, though not always fresh. When a tribe goes to war the 
first thing to be done is to place the mats in safety, and they are always 
considered the most valuable portion of the booty ; and some of them 
are truly superb. Like wine, also, age enhances their value. Mats 
which have been used by chiefs or have been in royal families for a cen- 
tury or two are necessarily somewhat soiled but are priceless treasures. 
A bride's dower would be considered scandalously incomplete without 
a number of ancient family mats. 

Polygamy is practiced, but two wives seldom live in the same house. 
Women also are considered the equals of men, and both sexes join in 
the family labors. 

In the ancient religion of the Samoan, less homage was paid to 
their one great god than to their minor gods of war. They had also 
gods of earthquakes, lightning, rain and hurricanes, and they worshiped 
carved blocks of wood erected to the memory of deceased chiefs and 
warriors. Christianity is now dominant, aad most of the adult popula- 
tion can read and write. 

TIHITIAN IDOLS. 

The natives of the Society Islands have adopted European habits 
and costumes. They are above middle height, vigorous and graceful 
in bearing, with a bold and open expression of countenance. They 
were formerly great worshipers of idols. Below are some of the objects 
of their former adoration, these particular idols being idols of the 
Tihitians. 

WAR CHARMS. 

The Marquesans are among the least civilized of all the Polyne- 



WAR CHARMS. 



413 



sians. They fight each other Hke wild beasts, having neither govern- 
ment nor acknowledged leaders. They have no religion, but are grossly 
superstitious, being firm believers in amulets and charms and fetiches, 
relying upon them particularly as protections and good influences in 
war. These superstitions and the system of tabu seem to be about 
all that lifts them above animal life. The tabooed or privileged classes 
are the "atnas," who are considered as superior beings; soothsayers, or 




'^M 



NATIVE IDOLS. 



fetich men ; priests and surgeons ; secular rulers and war chiefs. Serv- 
ants, dancers and workmen are not tabooed. Women choose their 
husbands and divorce them at will. They appear almost white, and, like 
the men, are easy in their bearing; their complexion is in reality a light 
copper color, but they rub themselves with the root of the papaw tree 
and produce the desired effect. 

The Marquesans are cannibals only when they wish to revenge 



414 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



themselves upon the body of an enemy. Their habitual food is vege- 
tables, with a highly intoxicating native drink, which is made by chewing 
up a kind of root and spewing the pulp, with the accompanying saliva, 
into a vessel where the mess is allowed to ferment. They make a coarse 
cloth out of the bark of the mulberry tree with which they scantily cover 
themselves, and live in small thatched huts erected on stone platforms. 
In similar houses they bury the dead. 

THE HAWAIIANS. 



The Hawaiian (or Sandwich) Islands are the most northerly group 
of Polynesia, and the twelve islands constitute a kingdom governed by 
a native. The framework of the constitution was prepared by Chief 
Justice Lee, of the United States, and many Americans hold govern- 
ment positions. 
The great wealth 
of the islands is 
in sugar, much of 
which is exported 
to Australia. 
The Hawaiians 
are noblyformed, 
are good fisher- 
men, horsemen 
and sailors and 
are capable of 
considerable in- 
tellectual elevation. The government, as somewhat modified from its 
original republicanism, consists of a king, a privy council (composed of 
four governors of the large islands and four ministers), and a parliament, 
which is formed by a house of fourteen nobles (of whom six are whites) 
and twenty-eight representatives (of whom seven are whites). Then there 
are the judicial department, police and other officials. The royal 
salary is $22,500. A voter must read and write, pay his taxes and have an 
income of $ 75 a year. 1 1 is said that comparatively few adults are disquali- 
fied, and that some of the natives show considerable proficiency in arith- 
metic, geometry and music. The English language is not taught to any 
great extent. The natives are very liberal in their support of churches, 
being naturally yielding and good-natured . By the death of King Kal- 
akaua, in January 1891, while on a visit to California, a queen (his 
daughter) now rules the kingdom. 




WAR AMULETS. 



THREE CENTURIES OF DISCOVERY, 




COLUMBUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. 

^HE discoveries which Columbus made, and which he inspired 
others to make, are those which have led to the creation of 
America as we know it to-day. It is true that his object was 
to find the land of Cathay, with its cities of gold and oceans 
of spices; that he did not originate the theory that the eastern 
bounds of Asia would be reached by sailing to the West, and 
that he believed to his dying day that he had found nothing more than 
the outlying lands of the Old World. It is true that his purpose was to 
convert the people of the East to the sway of the Catholic faith and 
their Catholic Majesties, and to spend one-fourth of the gold which he 
obtained upon another crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. 
He believed, moreover, in all the maelstroms, seas of mud and slimy 
weeds, and hideous monsters of water, land and air, with which Euro- 
peans had for ages been crowding the Western regions. Columbus was 
filled with all the fanaticism and superstition, as well as the geographical 
knowledge, of his times. 

But the hero is he who trembles and yet goes right on. Thus for 
years Columbus braved the hisses of courtiers, the scorn of kings and 
the storm of churchmen, and finally sailed out into the unknown dangers 
of the mysterious West to prove his faith in his theory. He deceived 
his men as to the distance they were sailing that he might quiet their 
fears of getting beyond the point where the rotundity of the earth would 
allow them to return home. The variations of the needle, which he did 
not himself understand, he promptly "explained" to his followers. He 
encouraged the despondent, calmly checked the turbulent, held out 
promises of gold and spices to the avaricious, and when his private log- 
book indicated that he had reached the point where land ought to lie, he 
confidently predicted its appearance. Soon thereafter came the floating 
weeds, the birds, the flickering lights, the discovery of the little island — 
the glorious day of October 12, 1492, which is soon to be made even 
more glorious by the Columbian Exposition. 

415 



COLUMBUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. 417 

When Columbus landed, he found that the simple natives of the 
New World looked upon him and his men as celestial beings, and he 
begged his followers to so conduct themselves that the savages would 
have no cause for changing their minds. Very soon, however, such 
articles as bits of broken glass, straps and hoops of wine barrels were 
being given to the Indians in exchange for pieces of gold, pearls and 
other valuables which they considered common and valueless. From 
first to last the commander protested against this deceit. Nevertheless, 
upon his departure from Hispaniola he captured a number of Indians 
and carried them to Spain, that they might be baptized, learn the Spanish 
tongue, act as interpreters and spread the faith. Great was the excite- 
ment when he returned to his native land with these unearthly people. 
He had heard, he said, of natives with tails and without hair, but had 
found no monsters. The West was not so dreadful as men thought, and 
hundreds now flocked to Columbus begging to be enrolled under him. 

At this time Seville was the principal point in Spain for the outfit- 
ting of ships, and was the headquarters of many wealthy business 
houses. At their head was a certain Bernardi, and associated with him 
was an energetic young Florentine — a scholar, geographer, astronomer 
and merchant — Americus Vespucius. One of Vespucius' ambitions was 
to repair the shattered financial fortunes of his family, which was already 
famous in the politics of the republic of Florence. This firm it was 
which bought the meats, wines, grain and other provisions for the ships 
of Columbus' second fleet, and the two men who were to be so closely 
connected with the history of America were thrown together in such a 
way that they became not only associates but friends. 

The ships weighed anchor on September 25, 1493. Columbus 
found Jamaica and other islands, nearly sailing to the western extremity 
of Cuba. From Hispaniola he wrote a letter to a friend at court, send- 
ing him gold, fruits, plants, and five hundred Indians to be sold in Seville. 
These natives, it should be remarked, were believed to be cannibals, and 
were considered as prisoners of war — bondsmen who were to be taught 
Spanish and some useful occupation, converted and be returned to the 
Indies as agents of good among their people. But these benevolent in- 
tentions were not to be realized. Even in Hispaniola both Indians and 
Spaniards were becoming quarrelsome and rebellious, the natives having 
long ago been undeceived as to their belief in the heavenly nature of the 
new comers. 

Some eighteen months after writing the letter to his friend, Colum- 
bus returned again to Spain with such striking evidences of gold that he 

27 



41 8 THE world's fair. 

insisted he had found King Solomon's mines. Then a regular board for 
the conduct of Indian affairs was established. This was the first step 
taken by Ferdinand to dispossess Columbus of the Admiralty of the 
Indies, which office he held under the license granted him when he ven- 
tured out into the western ocean. The discoveries were growing into 
something worthy of being coveted even by a king. 

As his ships entered the tropics, on their third voyage, Columbus 
says that such heat was suffered that the wheat burned like tinder, the 
hoops burst from the wine and water barrels, and the bacon and salt 
meat fried as in an oven. All gave themselves up for lost, believing 
that the common report was to be verified — that here was the zone of 
fire in which no man could live. But as they approached the equinoctial 
and the continent the temperature became balmy and heavenly. As 
Columbus approached the Island of Trinidad, being borne along on the 
strong currents flowing toward the west, there came toward him. a sheer 
wall of water. The meeting of the Orinoco floods and the Atlantic 
currents was terrible, and his escape from the Dragon's Mouth (as he 
called the Gulf of Paria) was a miracle. Columbus was in doubt, also, 
whether such a vast body of fresh water was drained from a continent 
or issued from Paradise, He concluded that Paradise "must be near 
these parts and near the summit of the earth, which here in the region 
of the equinoctial rises like the stalk of a pear." 

Having discovered the Coast of Pearls, he dispatched a letter to 
Their Highnesses, expressing his entire confidence in their friendship 
and support, yet hinting that his enemies who grumble at the small 
quantities of spices, pearls and gold which he sent home may be like 
water dropping upon a stone. And these fears were not groundless. 

All of Christendom was aroused over the Columbian discoveries. 
Even the English had sent the Cabots to search for an Indian passage 
to the Northwest. They had penetrated the Arctic region, discovered 
land near the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and dropped nearly to the 
limit of the Spanish explorations. Later the Portuguese sailed even 
farther north, and it is supposed that the two Cortereals were lost, be- 
tween 1 501 -2, in the storms and ices of Hudson Bay. The old com- 
panions of Columbus (such as Ojeda and Pinzon, who had been with 
him on his first voyage) were also now his rivals, and, encouraged by 
King Ferdinand, Bishop Fonseca (at the head of the Council of the 
Indies) and others who were jealous of his fame, they were furnished 
with the maps and charts which had been drawn by the great discoverer 
and sent to the Coast of Pearls. Pinzon, Ojeda, the veteran cosmog- 



COLUMBUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. 



419 



rapher and navigator De la Cosa, and Americus Vespucius, comrades of 
Columbus by sea and by land, discovered the mouth of the Amazon and 
portions of the coast of Northern South America, which their prede- 
cessor had not found. As a result of the expedition under Ojeda, John 




SEBASTIAN CABOT. 



de la Cosa (while the ship was lying in port, in May, 1500) drew the 
first general map of America. 

While on his way to Spain, Ojeda touched at Hispaniola and attempted 
to further the rebellion against Columbus, which was already well under 
way, and which culminated in the arrest of the Discoverer by Bobadilla, 
the King's governor and agent. Columbus was charged with usurping 



420 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

the royal prerogatives in the new Indies, and was placed in chains to be 
shipped to Spain. 

But before either the dispatches of Bobadilla or the shattered hero 
himself were received at court, a pathetic letter had been read to Queen 
Isabella which completely won her heart — if it had ever threatened to 
slip away from Columbus. The letter was written by the Discoverer to 
one of her ladies in waiting, the nurse to her children, and a friend of 
his. It reiterated his confidence in her, and added that one of his mo- 
tives in undertaking- his third voyage was to relieve somewhat the griefs 
which death (that of Prince John) had occasioned her. 

Although Bobadilla was recalled from Hispaniola and another small 
fleet was fitted out for Columbus, he was never again restored to the 
rank of admiral, and when, in May, 1502, he set out upon his fourth 
voyage he was ordered, upon no account, to touch at Hispaniola. This, 
his last voyage, was one of storms and wrecks. At length a hurricane, 
which threatened the destruction of his four caravels, furiously cast itself 
upon the richly-laden Spanish fleet and sent it to the bottom of the sea, 
with Bobadilla and other enemies of Columbus as a part of its freight. 
Although refused shelter by Ovando, the new governor of Hispaniola, 
Columbus weathered the terrible storm, but after being buffeted by the 
winds and waters of the Caribbean and struggling along the coasts of 
Honduras and Darien for nine months, he found himself with only two 
weather-beaten ships, sick and heart-sore, stranded upon the shores of 
Jamaica. It was here, while waiting for relief from Ovando and threat- 
ened with death by his mutinous followers — the whole party expecting 
to be butchered by savages — that he wrote directly to King Ferdinand 
and Queen Isabella, reminding them of his acknowledged services, and 
how he and his brothers had been plundered of their honors, their 
pearls and their very frocks. He had not a hair upon his head which 
was not gray; his body was infirm; he had not been left the smallest 
offering, he said, wherewith to save his soul, and he besought them, if 
he were rescued, to sanction his pilgrimage to Rome. The letter was 
dated Jamaica, July 7, 1503. 

At length relief came and Columbus was borne, through a succes- 
sion of tempests, across the ocean to Seville, where he arrived as com- 
plete a human wreck as any which ever lloated. He was too ill and 
worn to proceed on his way; but his son Diego and his brother Bar- 
tholomew were already at court to urge that justice be done to him, and 
Americus Vespucius had been sent by Columbus to assist his relatives in 
mending his fortune and his name. His friend, Vespucius, who was also 



VESPUCIUS. 



421 



the King's favorite, set out in February, 1505. But Queen Isabella's 
death, during the preceding November, had been the final blow to his 
hopes and his life, and while relatives and friends were pleading at court 
for a more just return for his great life-work than a fair estate in Spain, 
the brave and vexed soul of the Genoese alien passed into peace. He 
died at Valladolid, whither he had been removed, on May 20, 1506. 



VESPUCIUS. 

As the death of Isabella was a fatal stroke to the prospects of 
Columbus, so it was life to the career of Vespucius. For some reason 
not quite plain he had abandoned King Ferdinand and made two voyages 
in the service of the King 
of Portugal. One of them 
had earned him such fame 
that the unseaworthy ship in 
which he returned to Lisbon 
had been broken up, amid 
popular rejoicings, and the 
pieces hung in the churches 
as precious relics. He had 
written, to his noble friends 
in Florence, giving an ac- 
count of his third voyage, 
in which he says he meas- 
ured a quarter of the earth's 
circumference; whereupon Vespucius' name was publicly honored at 
Florence, in a grand festival of rejoicing. This bold suggestion was 
even made by the German editor of a geography of the day: "The 
fourth part of the world being discovered by Americus, it may be called 
Amerigo; that is, the land of Americus, or America." Although there 
has been much dispute over the extent of Vespucius' geographical dis- 
coveries, it is quite certain that he was one of the most broad-minded 
astronomers and cosmographers of his day, and that from his post, 
as Pilot Major of Spain (to which he was appointed by Ferdinand four 
years after Columbus' death), he had the best of opportunities to reach 
the significance of the western discoveries. A careful reading of the 
letters of Vespucius, in fact, indicates that he should have the honor 
of being named the first of the famous geographers who persisted in 
christening these new western lands, the New World. 




HOUSE WHERE COLUMBUS DIED. 



422 THE WORLDS FAIR. 

Vespucius enjoyed the honors of his position four years, but during 
that period his name was spread abroad with every ship that sped 
toward the West, as the royal representative of the New World. 
Strange to say, however, he died just before the tidings came to Spain 
of the first authenticated footfall upon the North American Continent — 
upon the Land of Flowers — Florida, the future land of death. 

PONCE DE LEON. 

Now, among those who followed Columbus to the New World 
during his second voyage — when Jamaica and Porto Rico were discov- 
ered — was Ponce de Leon, a brave soldier in the Moorish wars and a 
favorite of King Ferdinand. Like his brave leader, he was both ambi- 
tious and romantic, and after he had conquered the island of Porto Rico 
with his steel-clad warriors and terrible bloodhounds, he found himself a 
rich old man, sighing after new adventures and the strength of youth to 
carry them out. The Indian story, therefore, that somewhere to the 
north, in the "Land of Bimini," was a region where time did not sap 
the strength of men — this tale was exactly fitted to Ponce's mind. 

In March, 15 13, then, his fleet of three ships sailed from Porto 
Rico for the North, Touching at Guanahani, the first island which 
Columbus discovered, he steered for the northwest, searching the 
Bahama Islands for Bimini, the wonderful land of springs and streams. 
On Easter Sunday, which the Spaniards call Pasqite de Flares, he sighted 
the land which he named Florida. With the design of seeing if it was 
Bimini, he ran along the coast for several days, coming to anchor on 
April 2, near the present city of St. Augustine. In the meantime the 
Indians had been gathering upon the shores, following the ships as they 
crept along or exchanging provisions for colored ribbons, bits of tin, 
hawk bells, or whatever other trinkets the men had to offer. The Span- 
iards, however, did not venture to go ashore until the 8th of April. The 
Indians had been beckoning to Ponce and showed such friendliness that 
he then landed, erected a stone cross, and, with many grave and loud- 
spoken words, took possession of the country in the name of the Catho- 
lic Church and the King of Spain. 

Soon afterward, however, the Spaniards were attacked and driven 
away. They were also repulsed by the savages from the coast, near 
Cape Florida, and many years thereafter (in 1521) Ponce de Leon was 
to receive his death wound while attempting a landing on the shores of 
the Florida bay which still bears his name. 



BALBOA. 423 

In 1509, Columbus' son Diego, through his marriage with the niece 
of the Duke of Alva, and the strength of his cause — which the Council 
of the Indies was even forced to acknowledge — obtained partial justice 
from King Ferdinand, and was sent out with a brilliant retinue as Gov- 
ernor of Hispaniola. That he was not Admiral of the Indies, as he 
himself supposed, was at once made manifest by the royal appointments 
to governorships over the western lands which were promptly made 
without so much as consulting him. Like his father, Don Diego was 
eventually worried and worn into his grave. 

About the time that Columbus (sometimes called, by courtesy, the 
Second Admiral) went forth, full of renewed hope, to Hispaniola, the 
fiery and faithless Ojeda was sent to the Darien country as its royal 
governor. Despite the advice of his elder and more cautious comrade, 
John de la Cosa, he landed upon the present site of Cartagena (northern 
shore of Colombia), in the territory of a hostile chief, and advanced into 
the interior of the country, ordering the natives, in the King's name, to 
be converted, and capturing and abusing many of them. At length his 
command was attacked with such fury that only himself and one other 
soldier escaped to his ships alive. Juan de la Cosa fought bravely to the 
last, but some days after the battle the relief party which was sent to 
search for him found his body lying near a tree, hideously swollen with 
the poison of the many arrows with which it was transfixed. 

After the tragic death of America's geographic father, Ojeda planted 
a colony near Cartagena, called San Sebastian, taking that saint for his 
patron because he was shot to death with arrows. San Sebastian has 
been called the first permanent settlement on the continent of South 
America, some claiming that the honor should be accorded to Veragua, 
which Columbus founded, during his fourth voyage, upon the shores of 
the Isthmus of Darien. 

BALBOA. 

The turbulent Ojeda soon departed for Hispaniola, where he was 
to die a natural and an obscure death, and one of his lieutenants, not 
knowing the fate of the expedition, sailed for the already deserted town 
of San Sebastian. Of all the company which set out for the mainland, 
only a bankrupt adventurer, secreted in a wine cask, had anything to do 
with making American history. He — Vasco Nunez de Balboa — when 
the ship was fairly upon the high seas and he knew that he was out of 
the clutches of his creditors, came forth from his retreat, and, to be short 
about it, froni the time of the landing and founding of a new town on 



424 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



the coast of Darien, his bravery, abihty and suavity of manners gained 
him the power which belonged, officially, to the commander. Ojeda's 
lieutenant was finally imprisoned and sent to Spain, but he induced the 
King to recall Balboa himself. The daring Spaniard, however, and his 




BALBOA TAKES POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC. 



adventurous captain, Pizarro, had been informed of a counlr)- of gold 
and a great sea beyond the mountains of Darien. A chief, after 
having witnessed the Spaniards quarreling over a few pieces of gold 
which he had given them, ran to the scales, struck them with his fist and 
scattered the precious bits upon the ground, saying that the Christians 



CORTES. 425 

need not fall out about such a trifle, for beyond the mountains was a 
great sea, and beyond the sea they would find a country where gold was 
as plentiful as iron in Spain. 

Balboa had already sent much gold to his Sovereign, and to further 
conciliate him he resolved to discover the opulent country to the south. 
First, however, he must find the great Southern Sea beyond the moun- 
tains. The passage across the mountains to the isthmus was laborious 
and perilous. Some of the Indians he won over by presents of trinkets 
and iron axes; others he was obliged to fight, the fire-arms of the Span- 
iards and their bloodhounds striking the natives as terrible powers of the 
Devil. On the 26th of September, 1513, Balboa, from the summit of 
the mountain range, first sighted the Pacific Ocean, and a few days later 
he walked into its waters up to his thighs, with his sword and shield, 
calling witnesses to testify that he took possession of the South Sea for 
the King of Castile and Leon, and that he would defend the possession 
against all opposers. He then returned to Darien, and, dragging the 
materials across the mountains, his men built two brigantines with which 
to explore the mighty sea. But Balboa was betrayed into the hands of 
his enemies and finally (15 17) was executed in Spain. 

CORTES. 

In 151 1, Diego Columbus dispatched to Cuba one of the wealthiest 
and most popular of his followers. Captain James Velasquez, who, more- 
over, had accompanied his father on his second voyage, and was his 
warm admirer and friend. With the assistance of the priests, the con- 
quest of what proved to be the most valuable of the Spanish possessions 
was accomplished almost without bloodshed. Cortes, who had already 
been highly honored by .Ovando, the former Governor of Hispaniola, 
was sent to Cuba as Velasquez' private secretary. This young man of 
twenty-six, however, was so ambitious that he became the messenger of 
a dissatisfied clique, and agreed to lay their charges of ill-treatment 
before the Judges of Appeal, who had lately arrived at Hispaniola. As 
the reckless Cortes was stepping into his canoe to cross the eighteen 
leagues of sea which lay between the islands, he was arre'^ted by Velas- 
quez' agents. But although he narrowly escaped a hanging, he after- 
ward was received into the confidence of his superior, was appointed a 
judge of Cuba, and became very wealthy. 

Although, by 15 18, two of Velasquez' captains had discovered the 
coast of Mexico and obtained news of the powerful monarch, Monte- 



426 THE world's fair. 

zuma, they had done nothing toward conquering the country. The 
enterprise was therefore entrustd to Cortes, who proceeded, with char- 
acteristic energy to push the building of the ships and the collecting of 
provisions and men. The whole strength of Santiago was centered in 
this undertaking, and the whole town viewed the preparations with admi- 
ration. One day when they were nearly completed, Velasquez, his 
jester, Franky, and Cortes, were walking together near the harbor, 
viewing the busy scene. Suddenly the jester turned to his master and 
said, "Take heed what you do, lest we be forced to go a-hunting after 
Cortes." Velasquez laughed heartily and said to Cortes: "Comrade, 
mind what that knave says." Although Cortes had heard it, he answered, 
"What, sir?" 

Velasquez repeated the buffoon's remark, and Cortes said that the 
fool was mad and not worth listening to. But all who heard the words 
laughed knowingly, and they so clung to Velasquez that soon afterward 
he decided to cancel Cortes' commission and choose a less ambitious man. 
His "comrade" however, was advised of his intentions, and, although the 
preparations were not completed, Cortes slipped out of port one night, 
with his eleven ships, 500 soldiers and ten brass cannon, and gathering 
provisions in Jamaica and portions of Cuba, as well as picking up about 
1 50 new recruits, he sailed away from the Havana for the opposite 
coast of Yucatan. The jester was right, and although Velasquez many 
a time thereafter ordered Cortes to return, and sent his soldiers after 
him, he was beyond recall — he was to be a greater man than his patron. 
After losing one ship, he landed upon the coast of Mexico, on March 4, 
15 19. For two years and a half he fought his way to supreme power, 
the City of Mexico and the empire of the Montezumas falling before the 
valor and unprincipled cruelty of the Spaniards in 1521. 

Like those of Columbus, the wings of Cortes were clipped that he 
should not soar too near the royal plane. He was denied the Viceroy- 
alty of New Spain, but became Captain-General, and was afterward 
allowed to go on voyages of discovery — mostly at his own expense — 
along the western coasts of Mexico. Cortes was the first European to 
sight the peninsula and Gulf of California, in 1533, two years thereafter 
planting a colony upon these shores. 

MAGELLAN. 

When Cortes first landed upon the coasts of Mexico, the eastern 
shores of South America had been traced by the Portuguese and the 



ENTRY OF FRANCE. 427 

Spaniards nearly to the Strait of Magellan. Each of these great mari- 
time people was endeavoring to discover how far the New World (as 
South America was then called) extended toward the south. In spite of 
the assaults of cold, hunger and blood-thirsty mutiny amidst the Antarctic, 
wastes, the stern and gallant Portuguese solved the problem for Spain. 
In November, 1520, Magellan emerged into the unmeasured expanse of 
the Pacific, and though he was killed in a conflict with the natives of the 
Philippines, one of his captains lived to pass around the southernmost 
point of Africa and proudly return to Spain as the first circumnavigator 
of the globe. 

ENTRY OF FRANCE. 

Rouen, the old capital of Normandy, and Dieppe, its principal sea- 
port, were long the most important maritime centers of France, and 
during the earliest days of America many of their bold mariners fre- 
quented the fisheries of Newfoundland and other rich grounds of the 
St. Lawrence. The sailors of Normandy were worthy descendants of 
the ancient Norsemen, and during the era of the early Columbian dis- 
coveries, under bold captains, they also became noted as fearless and 
successful corsairs. It is suspected, further, that the treasure ships of 
the Spaniards and Portuguese were as much coveted by the wealthy 
merchants as by the captains and their crews. 

A certain Florentine, named John Verrazzano, is reported to have 
accompanied a mariner of Dieppe to the region of the St. Lawrence, in 
1508, and later, as a captain, to have taken a treasure ship in which 
Cortes was sending 11,500,000 worth of valuables to his royal master. 
Soon after this successful venture Verrazzano was sent by the King of 
France into the western ocean, to search for a passage to India in that 
part of the world lying between the Spanish and the English discoveries. 
On March 10, 1524, after a tempestuous voyage in his small vessel, the 
Dauphine, he reached the coast of the United States, at the 34th parallel 
of north latitude, near Cape Fear, North Carolina, and, before he 
returned to France, examined the shores of the Atlantic from this locality 
to the island-studded bays of Maine. On the 8th of July of this year, 
on shipboard in the port of Dieppe, he wrote a letter to King Francis, 
describing the country along his route — the coasts of North Carolina 
and Virginia, Chesapeake Bay, New York harbor and river, Narragan- 
sett Bay, Cape Cod and the shores of Maine. This stretch of country 
he called the New Land — soon afterward to be called New France — and 
his letter it was which first connected the northern and southern discov- 



^28 THE world's FAIR. 

eries and revealed the New World in its true grandeur. He concluded 
that the New World covered 120° of latitude, which is wonderfully near 
the truth. Verrazzano made another voyage to America, in 1526, durmg 
which some historians assert that he was eaten by the Indians-others 
that he was captured by the Spaniards, taken to Spam and hung for 



piracy 




HOUSE WHERE PIZARRO WAS ASSASSINATED, IN LIMA, PERU. 

This was the period (1526), als©; when further great discoveries 
were inaugurated in South America; when Pizarro commenced his career 
of conquest in that country of which he had heard when a captam under 
Balboa, and when Sebastian Cabot, now in the employ of Spam, was 
fighting his way up the great valley of the Plata. They were the fore- 
runners of others, who, within twenty years, had conquered and explored 
the coast countries of Western South America, had colonized the valley 
of the Plata to Central South America, and had sailed down the Amazon 
River from its headwaters among the Andes to its mouth in the Adantic. 
But from the time of the French discoveries the attention of Europe was 
permanendy divided between the South and the North. 

Spain and Portugal both protested at the claims of France; England 
did not. But Francis, the King, continued to send out his men, and, at 
leno-th when Cartier landed at Chaleur's Bay, below the mouth of the 
St.lawrence River (in 1534). taking possession of the country in his 



THE AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 



429 



name, and the two southern kingdoms sent forth a more decided protest 
than ever, the royal gentleman of France got out of patience and ex- 
claimed that he " should like to see the clause in our Father Adam's 
will and testament wherein such vast lands were deeded to Spain and 
Portugal." Cartier took back two Indians to France, who told him of 
the St. Lawrence River, and the next year (1535) he returned and 
ascended it to the sites of Quebec and Montreal. The latter portions of 
the sixteenth century was darkened by the bloody quarrels between the 
Spaniards and the French, on the southeastern coasts of the United 
States, after which France began to concentrate all her strength and 
bravery upon the explorations of the interior. Cartier drove the enter- 
ing wedge for Champlain, Joliet, Mar- 
quette and La Salle, by whose intre- 
pidity the valley of the St. Lawrence, 
the Great Lakes, and the valleys of the 
Ohio and Mississippi were explored 
for a century and a half, and the most 
wonderful system of fresh water in the 
world was revealed. 

But about the time, in 1541, that 
Cartier was returning from France, as 
captain of the King's ships in New 
France, the Spaniards were making 
bold expeditions into the southern 
portions of the United States. Coro- 
nado, from Mexico, and De Soto, 
from Florida, approached to within a 
few hundred miles of each other, at 
a point west of the Mississippi River. 
Coronado penetrated to the Missouri; De Soto into Texas. De Soto 
left his wasted body in the Mississippi Valley. Coronado returned to 
New Spain, a crushed man. They both sought for such glorious Indian 
kingdoms as Cortes and Pizarro had found; but their luckless adventures, 
and their wanderings from sea to sea, only resulted in laying the founda- 
tion for the future territorial claims of Spain in the United States. 

THE AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 




SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 



During the latter portion of the sixteenth century England awoke 
to the value of the Western discoveries, and sent her greatest mariner, 
Francis Drake, to the West Indies and the northern shores of South 



430 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



America, that Spain might feel the entrance of another power into the 
domain of the southern and the western seas. After carrying conster- 
nation into the lands of the Caribbean, seizing Spanish ships and towns 
with zeal and ease alike, the intrepid commander sailed down the eastern 
coasts of South America to the Strait of Magellan, emerging into the 
Pacific Ocean, in September, 1578, as the first Englishman whose craft 
had plowed its waters. Skimming along the coasts of Chili and Peru, 
pouncing upon the Spanish ships as he went, he at length arrived upon 

our coasts, sated with plun- 
der. His land-fall was in 
the vicinity of San Fran- 
cisco Bay, He took pos- 
session of the country for 
Queen Elizabeth, naming 
it New Albion, and, after 
a short season of rest, 
sailed up the coast nearly 
to the latitude of the inter- 
national boundary. Being 
unsuccessful in his search 
for an eastern passage of 
escape into the Atlantic, 
he turned boldly into the 
Pacific Ocean, and steered 
for the Moluccas. Drake 
arrived in the harbor of 
Plymouth, on November 
3, 1580, being the first 
Englishman to circum- 
navigate the globe. Soon 
after his return he was vis- 
ited by the Queen, on shipboard, and received the honors of knighthood. 
The most important discovery next made on the western coast of 
America was that its bold extension to the northwest was separated by 
a strait from the northeastern peninsula of Asia. Vitus Bering, or 
Behring, a German in the employ of Russia, made this discovery, in 
1728. But the coast of America from Drake's New Albion to Behring's 
Strait remained unexplored, in a scientific and thorough manner, until 
the time of Cook and Vancouver. While transporting an English scien- 
tific party from Tahiti, where its members had been observing a transit 




CAPTAIN COOK. 



THE AWAKENING OF ENGLAND. 43 1 

of Venus, and searching for the vast southern continent, which was be- 
lieved to exist in the Antarctic Ocean, the famous Captain Cook discov- 
ered New Zealand, the southeastern shores of Australia, and other lands 
for the Sovereign of England. This was in 1769. Captain Cook made 
another unsuccessful search for the Antarctic Continent, and finally was in- 
structed to sail to the coast of America and examine it from New Albion, 
north, to 65°, for the purpose of ascertaining if there was an eastern 
passage into the Atlantic Ocean. After discovering the Sandwich 
Islands, he reached the California coast, in March, 1778, and then sailed 
north along the shores of Canada and Alaska to Cook's Inlet. Here, 
at last, he thought he had found the great Atlantic strait, but, being dis- 
appointed, passed on nearly to Behring's Strait, where his further progress 
was stopped by ice. He then directed his course to the Sandwich 
Islands, where he was killed February 13, 1779. One of his brightest 
midshipmen, upon this and a previous voyage, was George Vancouver, 
who, from 1792-94, under orders from, the British Government, com- 
pleted the survey of the Pacific coast from Lower California to Cook's 
Inlet. Thus the English must be considered the fathers of our Pacific 
coast, as the French are of our Atlantic. 

Furthermore, as the French were the discoverers of Interior 
United States east of the Mississippi River, so were the Americans the 
first scientific explorers of the country west of that mighty natural 
division. The first government expedition was sent out by Thomas 
Jefferson, in 1805, and traced the course of the Missouri and Columbia 
rivers. The late General John C. Fremont, so identified with the history 
of California and the Southwest, may be called the last great American 
explorer and discoverer. As late as 1848 he revealed almost a new 
world in the United States of America. He was the last child of 
Columbus, and paved the way for those transcontinental railways, which 
have at length brought Europe into close communication with Asia — 
with the Land of Cathay and the Spice Islands of the East. The French 
and the Americans first opened the eyes of the world to the vastness of 
the land barring the way to the East; the explorers of Interior United 
States and her Anglo-American colonizers at length made it plain that 
in this "obstructive world" was to be found the riches, the sunshine and 
the strength of youth which Columbus and his comrades sought in the 
East, beyond the mere curtains of the West. 

When the cotemporaries of Columbus were forced to see that some 
vast land lay between them and their spices, they still sought for a pas- 
sage by water through Panama's narrow neck. The strait not being 



432 • THE WORLDS FAIR. 

forthcoming, a few years after the death of Columbus they were discuss- 
ing the practicability of a communication, by small boats and carts, from 
Panama to the North Sea, via the Chagres River. Thus Spain hoped to 
outgeneral Portugal, who was obliged to sail around Cape Horn. But 
Providence had other plans in view. The short and easy way remains 
untraveled; instead, Anglo-Saxon and Latin fought their way through 
savage men and savage nature for nearly three thousand miles, before 
the real highway was opened to Cathay and the Moluccas. France and 
America completed the chain to India. 

Now, a further word as to America's part. Thomas Jefferson was 
as truly the father of the Western United States as of the National 
Constitution. Many years before the first government expedition, under 
his control, penetrated to the Pacific, he attempted to solve the mysteries 
of our West. Jefferson it was who dispatched Lewis and Pike, and wit- 
nessed, with pride, the geographical birth of splendid river systems, huge 
mountain peaks and wonders of nature not dreamed of before. Many 
vital truths were revealed, of the country between the Mississippi and 
the Rockies, from the headwaters of that river to Texas, and of the 
territory from the sources of the Missouri and Columbia to the Pacific 
Ocean. From his retirement at Monticello he followed the tracks of 
Major Long as that explorer traced the Platte and Arkansas rivers to 
their hiding-places in the mountains. It was at this time, when Thomas 
H. Benton was just commencing his long career in the Senate, that 
Jefferson received a visit from the Missouri statesman. It was the first 
and only time that the two came together, but the effects of that inter- 
view were so lasting upon Senator Benton's mind that for thirty years he 
aimed, as a legislator, to carry out the western policy of his master. 

Senator Benton, after Jefferson, was the father of the West. It is 
fitting, therefore, that his statue at St. Louis should face the West, that 
its finger of marble should point to the West, and that from its pedestal 
should be read this inscription : 

"There is the East; 
There is the road to India." 

Not only has the road to India been found, but through such a land! 




SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

'HE foundation of all the countries of South America is the native 
Indian population. The conquests and colonizations of the 
Spanish and Portuguese reared upon this a superstructure of 
civilization, the foreigner intermarrying, to a great extent, with 
the Indian. When these countries declined in power the native 
blood asserted itself, and with the added strength of European 
life, republics and kingdoms were formed which are still marching on 
with vigor and intelligence. The purest type of South American Indians 
is now found in Patagonia and Brazil. But we shall pass by the Pata- 
gonian, for the reason that he has little to commend himself to us. The 
Brazilian Indian, however, has many endearing qualities, and is not un- 
important as a factor in the progress of the republic. 

THE BRAZILIAN INDIANS. 

The Tupi-Guaranis is a widely extended Indian family in South 
America, its members being the native tribes of Paraguay, Brazil, 
■and of the whole Orinoco region. The Brazilian Indians are generally 
of a bright yellowish, copper color ; are robust rather than tall ; with 
small noses, round faces and small eyes. Their dispositions seem to 
partake somewhat of the light-heartedness of Southern climes, and even 
in the presence of others they are not uniformly so grave as the Indians 
of the North. The tribes formerly dwelt almost entirely along the 
coast, but with the advent of Europeans were driven into the interior, 
where some of them still reside in their savage state. In the northern 
provinces the Indian blood prevails, but the negroes are the most num- 
erous of the unmixed races in Brazil. 

There were many other tribes which were not included in this fam- 
ily, when the missionaries, traders, slave hunters and adventurers first 
commenced to push their way into the country, and singular to say they 
were able to so co-operate that a language was formed out of all these 
diverse tongues which became the common vehicle of communication 

28 433 



434 ■ THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

from the Orinoco to the La Plata. The basis of the language is, however, 
the Tupi-Guaranis tongue. And where are the Tupi-Guaranis, who once 
numbered nearly a hundred tribes along the Atlantic coast, occupying 
the country back to the Parana River ? The Portuguese slave hunter 
followed the missionary who had partially civilized the Indians of South 
Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and broke up their tribes, carrying many 
away as slaves and, in short, almost exterminating them. Remnants 
of two of the most numerous tribes started out under an eminent chief 
and journeyed for three thousand miles from their homes, near Rio 
Janeiro, to the country along the Amazon River, near its confluence 
with the Madeira and Purus. These tribes are now known as Mandru- 
cus, and are the most warlike Indians of South America. They live in 
villages, in each of which is a fortress where all the men sleep at night. 
This building is adorned within with the dried heads of their enemies, 
decked with feathers. The similarity of some of their habits to those 
existing among the savages of the great Pacific Islands is noticeable. 
The Mandrucus have a blowpipe, through which they discharge small 
darts as do the natives of Borneo ; their great village houses resemble 
the " head houses " of the Dyaks of Borneo, while many small baskets 
and bamboo boxes from Borneo and New Guinea are so similar in their 
form and construction to those of the Amazonian Indians that they 
might have been made by adjoining tribes. Like the Dyaks, the Man- 
drucus hang up the dried heads of their enemies in their houses. A 
tribe of Indians on the Purus use, instead of the bow and arrow, the 
Australian boomerang, or so close a copy of it as to warrant the state- 
ment. 

PHCENICIANS OF THE AMAZON. 

The first glimpse of the Amazonian Indians is obtained at Para, 
the growing city at the great river's mouth. Although trading centers 
have been established along the main river and most of its principal 
branches, many of the natives prefer to do their own business, and so 
take their wives and children in their canoes, and with added cargoes of 
nuts, cocoa, dried fish, mandioca meal, crude rubber, turtles, monkeys, 
parrots, etc., they sometimes make journeys of five or six hundred miles. 
The monopoly of the immense interior trade of Brazil, which flows 
through her great river arteries, is in the hands of the Amazonian 
Steamship Company, which has established innumerable trading-posts 
and sends its vessels at stated intervals to collect the products which its 
agents, or private traders, have received from the natives, both Indians 
and negroes. Traders depend for much of the interior produce upon 
the Mandrucus and allied tribes. 



PHCENICIANS OF THE AMAZON. 



435 



The Indian of Brazil is not a property owner, as a rule, though one 
of them, now and then, amasses quite a Httle fortune as an agriculturist 
or as a brick manufacturer. He clings, however, to his palm-thatched 
house, extending its dimensions into several rooms and gathering a herd 
of half a hundred cattle. Generally the Indian has not the faculty of 




AMAZONIAN INDIANS. 

keeping steadily to his work, or of saving when he earns a little some- 
thing. He would rather go off hunting or fishing, or, sad to add, on a 
spree, than to work upon a plantation, day after day and week after 
week. 

When it comes, however, to labor which has excitement in it, such 
as dragging canoes through seething rapids, and overland to other navi- 
gable waters, the Indian, whether he be savage or semi-civilized 



436 THE world's fair. 

doggedly pushes his way through all difficulties. Picturesque scenes of 
this nature can be witnessed where the headwaters of the Tapajos, a 
branch of the Amazon, approach the Paraguay River. An elevated 
plain divides the two great rivers, and when the waters are highest 
canoes have even passed over the shed. The fierce Mandrucus, next 
to fighting rival tribes, enjoy this conflict with rapids and waterfalls. 
They divide into two crews, part of them jumping into the water near 
the boat, and the others going ahead with long lines which they attach 
to rocks or trees upon the bank. The men in the water drag and lift the 
canoe slowly along, sometimes being under water and all but washed 
away by the rushing current. 

Most of the freight which is brought to the Paraguay and Amazon 
rivers, and which finds its way to the coast through the efforts of these 
Indians, consists of gum and the guarana drug. The Mandrucus Indians 
are the principal gatherers of rubber gum, which they give to the trad- 
ers in exchange for knives and fish-hooks, and others gather drugs in 
the forests and cultivate them in their gardens. 

THE AMAZONS. 

On the upper branches of the Amazon are numerous tribes Avhose 
male members do most of the ornamenting of the body, and otherwise 
attire themselves in so feminine a manner as to partially explain the 
origin of the story carried back to the Old World that fierce female 
warriors (Amazons) lived and fought in this country. Says a trav- 
eler who penetrated into their territory, by a liberal use of that univer- 
sal language of Eastern South America, to which reference has been 
made : " The women wear a bracelet on the wrists, but no necklace, or 
any comb in their hair. They have a garter below the knee, worn 
tight from infancy, for the purpose of swelling out the calf, which they 
consider a great beauty. While dancing in their festivals, the women 
wear a small apron, made of beads prettily arranged. It is never worn 
at any other time, and immediately the dance is over it is taken off. 
The men, on the other hand, have their hair carefully parted, combed 
on each side and tied in a queue behind. In the young men it hangs 
in long locks down their necks, and with the comb, which is invariably 
carried stuck on top of the head, gives them the most feminine appear- 
ance. This is increased by the large necklaces and bracelets of beads 
and the careful extirpation of every symptom of beard." They use 
shields which cover the entire length of their bodies. 

And yet, if the Amazons did not exist, the delusion is one of a 



THE BRAZILIANS. 437 

most general character, for Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, and other 
more modern travelers have given credence to reports which they 
received from Indian tribes that the Amazons were a reality and that 
they associated principally with the Caribs ; that they killed their male 
children or returned them to their consorts and retained only the 
females. The stories of the Amazons are current with all the Indians 
of Guiana, and similar reports have been received from Paraguay, from 
the tribes along the Amazon, New Granada and the West Indies. The 
latest theory is that the whole story had its origin in some aboriginal 
myth and has been distributed over all the vast territory in which the 
Tupi-Guaranis language and its dialects are spoken. In fact, several 
myths which have for their theme the separation of a band of women 
from the men of their tribe and a subsequent periodical reunion, have 
been discovered in definite form among the Amazonian Indians. 

THE BRAZILIANS. 

It is impossible to get at anything like a reliable statement of the 
population, by races, of the Brazilian Republic; but striking a 
balance of many estimates it is safe to say that civilized and uncivilized 
Indians, and Brazilians of mixed Indian and white and of Indian and negro 
blood, would constitute one-half of the population, which has been placed 
all the way from 8,000,000 to 14,000,000. The ruling nationality is, of 
course, the Portuguese, and since the royal house of Portugal was driven 
from its throne and took refuge in Brazil, which subsequently declared 
its independence, the South American nation has been the sovereign 
state and Portugal the dependency. 

The internal commerce of the country is conducted generally by 
private navigation companies. The principal one of the twenty-eight which 
now ply Brazilian waters is the English Amazon Company, of which men- 
tion has been made. Besides following the main stream of the Amazon 
up to Tabatinga, on the frontier of Peru, a distance of 1,800 miles, it 
ascends some of its greatest tributaries, employing four steamers on the 
Madeira, four on the Purus, and two on the Negro. During one year 
its boats touched at 120 stations, conveyed 14,000 passengers and 20,000 
tons of merchandise. The same service is performed by various com- 
panies on other tributaries of the Amazon ; also on the San Francisco 
and other streams flowing into the Atlantic, on the Plata, the Parana 
and the Paraguay. 

The most precious stones, the most valuable metals and the finest 
woods are all natural products of Brazil. Maize, rice, cotton and coffee 
are great crops — that is, with proper management they could be made 



438 THE world's fair, 

SO. Here are somes tatements, well authenticated: Maize yields from 
150 to 400 fold ; rice as much as 1,000 fold ; wheat from thirty to seventy 
fold ; an acre of cotton gives four times as much as in the United States ; 
on an area of five acres one man can easily cultivate 2,000 coffee 
trees, which will give him an average crop of 6,000 pounds, worth about 
$400. For field and plantation labor, Brazil depends upon the negro. 
But since the emancipation of the slaves they have been flocking to the 
cities to serve as domestics, and the former trade in staples, which never 
was in any proportion to what nature intended, is on the downward 
grade. 

THE CARIBS AND ARAWAKS. 

When Columbus first visited the West Indies a fierce tribe of 
Indians occupied the islands extending from Porto Rico to the main- 
land of South America. He heard of their warlike natures through the 
milder tribes of Cuba, The Greater Antilles had been invaded by them 
and the very name of the Caribs was a nightmare. According to tradi- 
tion they had their origin among the Rocky Mountains, or in some great 
mountainous district west of the Mississippi, From Florida they ad- 
vanced to the continent, step by step, and island by island. When 
South America became generally known to Europeans, the Caribs had 
been widely diffused over the northern portions of the continent — princi- 
pally along the shores of the sea and the banks of the Orinoco River. 

Their descendants still live in the river districts, but their disposi- 
tions are not what they were four centuries ago. There are, in fact, few 
Caribs remaining. Streams of blood from many races have crossed 
their own. The Caribs stoutly resisted the Spaniards, and in one of their 
terrible battles two thousand of the natives perished. They retreated 
to the mainland, where they also for many years were the most dreaded 
savage foes of the Spaniards. This powerful race is now reduced to a 
few insignificant tribes in Guiana and mingled with other Indian nations 
of the interior. About the upper waters of the Pomeroon is one of their 
largest fragments, consisting of a few hundred savages living in almost 
as primitive a state as when their forefathers saw Columbus sail along 
their island coasts. 

The Arawaks are ancient enemies of the Caribs, and are said to 
have been so powerful as to have repeatedly repelled their incursions 
into the mainland. They have now dwindled to a tribe, which is, how- 
ever, powerful. The Arawaks inhabit a large extent of territory in Gui- 
ana, back of the cultivated strip on the sea coast. The only records of 
their history are rude figures marked upon the rocks in certain localities 



THE MOZCAS. 439 

of their wilderness. These natives were the first seen by Columbus 
when he discovered the continent in 1498, and he was greatly surprised 
to find, instead of a black race, that they were of lighter complexion than 
any aborigines he had yet met. Their figures were graceful, and their 
only clothing was a sort of turban and a waistband of colored cotton. 

The Arawaks of the present are mild and peaceful, but are armed 
with modern weapons, besides the club, bow and arrow of their fore- 
fathers. On the banks of the streams which flow through their territory, 
the country of the Caribs and even weaker tribes, missionaries have 
established little settlements as a basis of their labors, and among the 
Arawaks they have made no little progress. They have not yet been 
able to effect a material change in the native costume, which consists, as 
of old, of a cloth about the loins, with ornaments upon state occasions. 

The Guiana Indian retains more Asiatic features than even the 
North American Indian, his eyes being black and piercing, and slanting 
a little upward towards the temple. The expression of the mouth is 
good. The forehead recedes in a less degree than the African, and in 
some individuals it is well-formed and prominent. 

. THE MOZCAS. 

A few bands of the once great Indian nation of Mozcas, or Muys- 
cas, live in the United States of Colombia, on the upper Orinoco River. 
They were an empire of two million people at the time of the conquest, 
having subdued the tribes from that river to the southern part of the 
present Ecuador. In common with some of the other Indian nations 
and the Esquimaux, the Mozcas call themselves "men"; that is the 
translation of their name, as if they considered themselves the only 
true specimens of mankind in the world. They offered human sacrifices 
to the sun and worshiped a number of minor deities, throwing their 
offerings into the lakes. The natives dressed in square mantles of cot- 
ton cloth, dyed and painted, and were skillful workers in wood, stone 
and metals. They used money and traded in mantles and other articles 
of their own manufacture, lived in wooden and clay houses with peaked 
roofs, furnished inside with comfortable mats and benches. The 
ancient language is now only spoken by these tribes of the United 
States of Colombia. Of the origin of the coast Indians, who are 
mostly savages, nothing is known except that they bear no resemblance 
to any of the other families. 

THE PANAMA CANAL. 

The project of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by means of 
a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was first put on foot by the 



440 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

king of Spain over 360 years ago, but it did not advance, perceptibly, 
until within the last century. Scores of surveys were made, and finally 
the government of the United States of Colombia approved of a con- 
tract with " Lucien N. B. Wyse, chief of the scientific exploring expe- 
dition of the isthmus in 1876, 1877 and 1878, and member and delegate 
of the committee of direction of the Civil International Interoceanic 
Canal Society," by which the canal was to be finished in twelve years 
from the time of the organization of the construction company, and, if 
absolutely necessary, an extension of six years was to be granted. 

In 1881 the Interoceanic Canal Company was formed in Paris, with 
M. Ferdinand de Lesseps at its head, and France subscribed to 994,000 
of the 1,200,000 shares of stock. An agreement with the United 
States Government having been reached that the neutrality of the canal 
should be maintained, seventy engineers, superintendents, and doctors 
were sent to the isthmus, and thousands of Indians, negroes and China- 
men were engaged as laborers. M, Blanchet, who had active charge of 
the undertaking, died from the effects of the climate and overwork in 
November, 1881, the surveyors, having been in the field for only nine 
months. Notwithstanding his advanced age, M. de Lesseps then 
assumed the general management, being often in the field in person, 
and notwithstanding the unhealthful climate of the isthmus, serious 
drawbacks caused by the periodical inundations of the Chagres River, 
and financial embarrassments, only death can quiet the virile ambition of 
the grand old engineer. 

THE ECUADORIANS. 

The Indians of Ecuador are the bone and sinew of the population — 
the miners, herdsmen, farmers and manufacturers of the country. 
Panama hats, brilliant quilts and carpets, and the most durable earthen 
ware in South America are placed to their credit. They build the 
bridges of Ecuador, and are noted for the rafts which they construct, and 
in which they take long sea voyages. Shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, 
blacksmiths, lawyers and doctors are discovered in the ranks of the 
Indians, although white blood is usually found to be an incentive to join 
the professions. The so-called "free Indians" (although none are held 
in actual bondage) often act as mule drivers and guides. Those who 
are employed by Spanish planters are usually paid insufficient wages and 
are brought so deeply into debt, however, that most of them are all but 
slaves in name. 

Some of the natives have never settled down to any employment, 
but hunt and fish along the great rivers east of the Andes, cultivating 



THE ANDI-PERUVIANS. 



441 



enough maize for their own subsistence, and exchanging the products of 
the chase and a certain powerful arrow poison, for tools and ornaments. 
The most numerous of the aboriginal tribes, descendants of a race, 
which at the time they were conquered by the Incas had its noted 
painters and architects, are the Quitus, who gave their name to the capi- 
tal of Ecuador. The Indians are divided into eleven families, which, in 
turn, have their distinct tribes. 



THE ANDI-PERUVIANS. 
The glorious empire of the Incas, which the Spaniards found firmly 




;jvM ^'*^■t-^. - 



COLOSSAL HEAD CARVED IN STONE. 



rooted when the love of gold lured them to South America, extended 
from Patagonia to New Granada, the center of the government being 
the great temple of the Sun, at Cuzco, in the interior of Peru. Here om 
an elevated table land, between two branches of the Amazon River, 
were also great fortifications, it being the capital of the empire and the 
center of its religious system as well. The principal buildings of the 



442 THE world's FAIR. 

capital were constructed of huge masses of stone, transported from quar- 
ries many leagues distant and then elevated to their lofty sites. The 
stone was hewn with copper tools, and although cement was seldom used, 
so nicely was the work done that the blade of a knife could not.be 
introduced between the blocks. 

The Temple of the Sun was where the Inca, as head of the church 
and high-priest of the Sun, presided. It was built of stone, but thatched 
with straw. Within was a huge golden sun, which had a human face 
delineated upon it, and it was so arranged as to receive the first rays of 
the heavenly luminary. Vases of gold, filled with offerings of maize, 
stood in the open space of the interior, and all the vessels used in the 
celebration of religious rites were made of the precious metal. The 
building itself sparkled with golden ornaments ; even upon the out- 
side a heavy belt of gold was let into the stone wall around the entire 
edifice. The royal palaces and temples were adorned with like magnifi- 
cence. 

The empire had no money ; everything of value was collected in the 
coffers of the Inca. The government owned the soil and the people 
tilled it. It fixed a man's place of residence, determined his employment 
and even the amount necessary to support him. The government owned 
immense herds of llamas, and the people received their garments of 
wool and hair, after a certain proportion had been devoted to royal and 
religious purposes. All females were required to marry at eighteen and 
males at twenty-four years of age. The Inca always married his sister, 
that i"he royal blood might remain pure, but such a connection was 
forbidden between those of lower rank. 

TRACES OF THE EMPIRE. 

The empire was warlike and the military system was complex, 
including a draft of troops proportionate to population and dependent 
upon the hardihood of the people of the district. Throughout the 
extent of the vast empire Avere great roads carried along the mountain 
ridges or over the plains of the coast. Of the most famous of these 
Mr. Prescott, in his Conquest of Peru, thus speaks: " It was conducted 
over pathless sierras buried in snow; galleries were cut out for leagues 
through the living rock; rivers were crossed by means of bridges sus- 
pended in the air ; precipices were scaled by stairways hewn out of the 
native bed; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with solid masonry ; 
in short, all the difficulties that beset a wild and mountainous region, and 
which might appal the most courageous engineer of modern times, were 
encountered and successfully overcome. The length of the road 



TRACES OF THE EMPIRE. 



445 



of which scattered fragments only remain, is variously estimated from- 
fifteen hundred to two thousand miles." Stations and storehouses 
were established on the main roads, under the care of army officers. 

Ruins of the Incas' civilization which was so ruthlessly crushed by 
the Spaniards, have been found in the shape of gold and stone figures,, 
monuments, temples of all descriptions, acqueducts, bridges and paved 
roads, scattered from Chili to Central America. In Peru, besides the 
imposing remains of the Temple of the Sun, are the ruins of a supposed 
citadel of the Incas at Cannar, which is a regular oval in form. Within 
this is a square edifice 
containing two rooms. 

Among the most 
ancient monuments and 
believed even to ante- 
date the period of the 
Incas, are those which 
have been discovered on 
the southern shore of 
Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia. 
They are situated on a 
broad, arid plain, and con- 
sist of rows of huge erect 
stones, sections of massive 
walls a n d foundations 
stairways, fragments of 
cornices, carved blocks of 
stone, etc., etc. From the 
center of a bewildering 
mass of ruins, of which a 
description is here im- 
possible, rises a rectang- 
ular, irregularly terraced 
mound, 50 feet high, 650 
feet long and 450 feet 
wide. The temple, 
another great rectangular mass, is near by, and the hall of justice, a. 
mighty ruin, contains a structure which is composed of massive stones 
beautifully cut and held together by bronze clamps. 

World-famed antiquarians have traced in those vast areas surrounded 
by upright stones, which are seen in this great Bolivian plain, the earliest 
efforts of human art, and on the bare mountain tops of High Peru,. 




PERUVIAN CARVING. 



444 THE world's fair. 

it is said, " are hundreds and thousands of enclosures or fortresses, ante- 
dating all history, which were built according to Peruvian traditions 
when the country was divided up into warlike and savage tribes, before 
the sun shone or the Incas had established their beneficent rule. They 
are held in great reverence, as the works of giants whose spirits still 
haunt them, and to whom offerings of various kinds are still made." 

In addition to the ruins which have been mentioned, the fortress 
tnat comands the ancient capital of the Incas, and in the storming of 
which Juan PIzarro lost his life, is almost as perfect as it was three cen- 
turies ago. Near the town of Truxillo, Northern Peru, is what is known as 
Grand Chimu, the ruined capital of a great coast nation which was sub- 
dued by the Incas. Over at least twenty square miles are spread the 
ruins of public buildings, massive walls, temples, palaces, houses, tombs, 
prisons, work-shops, etc., etc. A vast temple of the Sun also appears, 
being pyramidical in form, 812 by 470 feet at the base and 150 feet 
high. There is a second of nearly equal size. Three centuries ago the 
Spaniards were digging treasure from the ruins and the work of excava- 
tion still goes on. 

SOME INCA TRIBES. 

The Quichuas are the most prominent of the ancient races of Peru 
and Bolivia. They have large acquiline noses ; generous mouths and 
fine teeth ; short but not weak chins ; a brown-olive complexion ; soft, 
thick and flowing hair, but scant beards and are generally low in stat- 
ure, with tremendous chests, caused by more frequent and greater respira- 
tions than are taken in a less rare atmosphere than that in which they live. 
The Quichuas differ in appearance from all other South American 
nationalities, and from the figures which appear upon various Peruvian 
antiquities it is evident that none of their ancient physical peculiarities 
have changed. 

The Aymaras are an ancient people whose history centers around 
Lake Titicaca, between Peru and Bolivia. They still inhabit adjacent 
districts in both of those countries and look, with sad eyes, upon the 
monuments of their forefathers which are in ruins upon the many small 
islands of the lake. The center of their government and their religion 
was a sacred isle, from which they believed the sun first arose. 

THE ARAUCANIANS. 

The natives of Chili and Patagonia, bold, warlike, tall and muscular, 
belong to this race. The mountaineers are very light in complexion, the 



THE ARAUCANIANS. 



445 



tribe of Boroanos in Chili being little darker than Europeans, They 
have broad faces and heavy features, but their bright eyes save them from 
the stamp of dullness. Some of them have heavy beards but generally 
the Indian custom is followed of plucking out the hair. 

When the Western coast of South America was first visited by 
Europeans a portion of Chili was subject to the Peruvians ; but the bulk 
of the natives were divided into tribes, each governed by its " ulmen '' 
or "cacique." Four of the original fifteen tribes had been subdued by 
, , the Peruvians^ 

when the pro- 
gress of t h e lat- 
ter's arms was 
permanently 
checked. The 
Spaniards came 
and found a foe 
worthy of their 
prowess. They 
discovered that 
these tribes had 
already confeder- 
ated and were 
working under a 
crude system of 
government ; that 
the country was 
divided into four 
sections, each 
governed by a 
" toqui, " or su- 
preme cacique, 
with the real pow- 
er still in the 

hands of the ulmens ; that the Araucanians were a compact, patriotic 
nation of great warriors. For over a century the Spaniards brought 
their iron-clad soldiers and their improved artillery to crush these 
brave and military Indians; with their swords and lances, slings, bows, 
pikes and clubs. Many battles are recorded in which the invaders were 
utterly routed, and finally they were obliged to abandon the enterprise 
of conquering an independent Indian race ; and, the proud distinction 
of being the only aboriginal Americans who have maintained their inde- 







AN ARAUCANIAN FAMILY. 



446 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

pendence when brought directly in contact with Europeans, still 
belongs to the Araucanians. They occupy much of their old territory 
within the modern republic of Chili." 

The provinces of Arauco and Valdivia have been especially the 
native districts of the Araucanians. This native state within the repub- 
lic of Chili lies between the Biobio and Valdivia rivers, and is 130 
miles in length by 150 in breadth. The natural divisions of the coun- 
try have been made the political ; that is, the sea coast, the plain, the 
territory running along the foot of the Andes, and the mountainous 
region, is each under the rule of a toqui. These districts are sub- 
divided into what would be called, in the United States, counties and 
townships. The toqui's badge of ofifice is an axe of porphyry or mar- 
ble. The four governors form the Federal Council, which decides upon 
grave national matters and may convene the General Assembly consist- 
ing of the subordinate rulers and chieftains. If the matter before the 
convention is war, the commander-in-chief is chosen from among the 
four toquis, if possible, and the chiefs, or ulmens, raise the troops 
from among their clans. A great plain between the Biobio and Dun- 
queco rivers is the meeting-place of these governing bodies. 

The Araucanians, like the Pampas Indians, rely principally upon 
their long spear when in action, trusting for final success upon the 
impetuosity of their charge. When in war paint they are nearly, or 
quite naked, but in times of peace they dress in loose, flowing mantles, 
■with dark blue and red skirts, having crimson cloths round their heads 
turban-fashion, and low down on the temples. If not aroused, they are 
peaceable and hospitable, hold free intercourse with the whites, and 
even serve as scouts in the Chilian army. Marriages have even occurred 
between Europeans and their women of high rank, at onetime a French 
adventurer being raised to the dignity of King of the Araucanians ; 
but his character being exposed he was driven out of the country in dis- 
grace. Whole crews of shipwrecked vessels are known to have been 
merged into the race, so that white skins and straight faces are not 
uncommon, " The chief wealth of the tribes is cattle, which they rear 
with some care and diligence ; and some of them, or their women, 
engage also in agricultural and industrial pursuits, part of their produce, 
as well as their tanned hides, tissues and silver trinkets, stirrups, curbs, 
etc., bringing good prices as curiosities." They make also blankets 
which are much valued by the Patagonians. Between the two races, 
however, there is usually a stirring feud which prevents much inter- 
course, even with those Araucanians who have abandoned their tribal 
relations and live in trading settlements. 



THE CHILIANS. 447 

The Araucanians have gods of War, of the Good, of Mankind, of 
Evil, but build no temples to them, make no idols and support no priests. 
They carry their ideas of political independence into their religion, and 
scarcely pay their deities due respect. The Araucanian heaven is beyond 
the Andes. They are so intensely national that no foreigner is allowed 
to settle among them who retains his own name. The Spanish language 
— anything which has the least suggestion of Spanish— is barred out of 
Araucania. Their own language is spoken throughout Chili and Pata- 
gonia to Cape Horn, and east to Buenos Ayres, and is among the most 
harmonious of South American tongues. 

The women of Araucania " do all the home and field work ; the 
men hunt, fight and tend the flocks. They live in wooden or reed 
plastered houses, well built and often sixty feet by twenty-five in size, 
not in villages but in the center of their plantations. They raise wheat, 
maize and barley, peas and beans, potatoes, cabbages, and fruit, as well 
as flax, and keep numbers of cattle and horses. Before the arrival of 
the Europeans they wove ponchos and coarse woolen cloths of very good 
workmanship." 

THE CHILIANS. 

The constitution of Chili is far less democratic than that of Arau- 
cania. Although its deputies and senators are ostensibly elected by 
popular vote, property qualifications are imposed which confine the voters 
really to the wealthier classes. Yet the republic is the most prosperous 
of any in South America, for the country contains an unusually large 
proportion of European blood and the Europeans constitute virtually 
the governing power. The National Legislature is composed of a House 
of Deputies, whose members sit for three years, and a Senate, one-third 
of which retires at the end of a like period. The Roman Catholic is the 
State Church and the offspring of mixed marriages must be educated in 
the national faith. Chili was among the first of the South American 
States to develop a railroad system, its capital, Santiago, and its metro- 
polis, Valparaiso, being connected by a substantial line, w^hich has 
branches to some of the principal towns. 

THE CENTAURS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 

In Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentine Republic are hundreds of 
Indian tribes who have their peculiarities, but seem equally at home upon 
the horse's back, and who are never truly themselves unless they are 
scouring their great pampas. They are usually of the most ignorant 
type, like the Abipones, who are east of the Parana River in Paraguay, 



448 THE world's fair. 

and although they are such wonderful horsemen, can count no further 
than three. They go nearly naked and practice tattooing. 

The numerous tribes of Indians who scour the plains of Buenos 
Ayres are members of the Araucanian race and of the Puelche family, 
to wiuch also belong the Patagoniahs. They live, move and have their 
being upon the horse's back. Whenever they shift their quarters for 
better pasturage, they drive before them great herds of horses, which 
they use both for fresh mounts and for food. They are warriors 
from the pure love of excitement and danger, and they declare "that 
the proudest attitude of the human figure is when, bending over his 
horse, man is riding at his enemy." Their most formidable weapon is a 
spear, fully eighteen feet in length. They charge without saddle or 
bridle, hanging under their horses, with their great spears far in advance, 
yelling and shrieking in a way which throws into a panic any but the 
coolest horsemen and the best trained horses. On the other hand, their 
cries have the effect of urging on their own steeds, which are further 
transformed into irresistible tornadoes by a peculiar motion of their bodies. 
Between them and the Gauchos, a race principally of Spanish descent, 
the most implacable hatred exists. The Gauchos are magnificent riders, 
themselves, but admit that on the open plain they are not the equals of 
the Pampas ^ — and of those long spears they are in constant fear. 

In exposed districts, the white settlers are subject to raids from the 
Pampas, and often protect themselves by digging ditches around their 
frail fortifications. The Indian's horse will not leap such a startling 
thing (to him) as a ditch, and the Indians would as soon think of wear- 
ing a silk hat as of fighting on foot. But if the raid is successful, no 
lives are spared except those of comely girls. These captives become 
so fascinated with their wild, free life that a French officer of the Peru- 
vian army, who was passing through the Pampas' territory to chastise a 
hostile tribe, found it impossible to induce some of them to return to 
their country, even offering them large sums of money if they would, in 
the meantime, act as interpreters. 

The only times when the Pampas Indians come in close contact 
with European life are when they visit the towns and settlements to dis- 
pose of their peltry and ostrich feathers for knives, spurs and liquor. 
The preliminary step is to pass over all their dangerous weapons to their 
chief, and then get ingloriously drunk. They have neither money, nor 
any idea of weights and measures, but designate, by some mark of their 
own, the quantity of the commodity they require in exchange for their 
own stock. 

Before the introduction of horses and cattle by the Spaniards, the 



THE GAUCHOS. 449 

Pampas were mountaineers, living in the eastern districts of Chili. They 
were even then more rude and savage in their manners than the Arau- 
canians, but were held in high esteem by their more civilized neighbors, 
on account of their fidelity and bravery as allies. They were called by 
them the Puelches, or eastern-men. With the possession of their horses 
and cattle, and the prolific increase of the wild herds, both subsistence 
and power were assured them, and they spread over the plains east of 
the Andes ; so that when the Spaniards built their first town, upon the 
site of the present city of Buenos Ayres, the Indians destroyed it and 
caused such terror that a second attempt at settlement was not made 
until nearly fifty years afterwards. 

THE GAUCHOS. 

The Gauchos are of pure Spanish origin, but their ways of life are 
so similar to those of the Pampas Indians, that it would be almost 
impossible to speak of one without the other. Their chief occupations 
are tending, marking and slaughtering cattle, and they have become as 
skillful with the bolas and the lasso as the wildest Indian of the plains. 
They often wield a bolas consisting of three stones, each fastened to a 
strap about six feet long, which is a fearful weapon. The three straps 
join in a center, and when the Gaucho throws the bolas he gives the 
balls a peculiar rotary motion, so that they fly asunder and go spinning 
through the air in the form of a triangle of about eight feet in diameter, or 
like some terrible devil fish of the air. If it meets with any resistance, • 
the stones which are free, continue the rotary motion, the straps wind 
around the object, whether it be a man's body, a horse's or a bull's, and 
finally strike the victim with crushing effect. 

The use of both the bolas and the lasso is one of the earliest 
accomplishments of the Gaucho ; and little children armed with theif 
miniature weapons make war upon the chickens, ducks and geese of the 
farmyard. In throwing the lasso the rider is obliged to be assisted by an 
intelligent and a trained horse. " Sometimes in the case of a furious ani- 
mal, the rider checks the horse and dismounts, while the bull is running 
out the length of his raw-hide rope. The horse wheels around and 
braces himself to sustain the shock which the momentum of the captured 
animal must inevitably give. The bull, not expecting to be brought up 
so suddenly, is thrown sprawling to the ground. Rising to his feet, he 
rushes upon the horse to gore him ; but the latter keeps at a distance, 
until the bull finding that nothing is accomplished in this way, again 
attempts to flee, when the rope a second time brings him to the ground. 
Thus the poor animal is worried until he is wholly within the power of his 
captor." 29 



450 THE world's fair. 

" When cattle are caught by the lasso, which is so thrown as to fasten 
on the horns, they will sometimes gallop round and round in a circle ; 
and if the horse be not well broken, being alarmed at the strain, he will 
not readily turn like a pivot, in consequence of which men have often 
been killed ; for if the lasso once takes a twist round the rider's body, it 
will instantly, from the power of the two opposed animals, almost cut him 
in twain." 

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost province of Brazil. It bor- 
ders upon Uruguay, and, like that country, consists principally of vast 
plains, over which great herds of cattle roam, from which is drawn so 
much of the meat supply of the empire ; and here the Gauchos and their 
lassoes are at the height of their glory. The women, also, are great 
" horsemen," often wearing a European riding habit, with body and 
sleeves. When not on horseback they wear a short skirt, tightly-fitting 
bodice, a shawl over the head, neck and shoulders, their arms being bare. 
Both sexes are tall and graceful, polite and hospitable, but give little heed 
to home life, preferring to sleep in the open air and live on horseback. 
Their dwellings are simply willow and mud huts, and, within, there are 
usually little more than a wooden bedstead with a skin mattress, over 
which are stretched two ropes to which the small children are lashed, a 
tea kettle and a few cups with tin suction pipes. They live chiefly upon 
beef. Their lives, in fact, are like those of all the centaurs of South 
America, whether of Spanish or Indian blood. 

Although their Spanish blood makes them polite, the Gauchos are 
given to intemperance, are revengeful and blood-thirsty; so that as many 
murders are placed to their account as to that of the Indians. That they 
both have much blood to answer for is evident from the many crosseS; 
made by simply tying two pieces of wood together with straps, which are 
planted near the roadways of all the pampas; these rude crosses always 
mark the spots at which strangers or natives were murdered. In Uru- 
guay the Gauchos have virtually exterminated the aboriginal population. 
Yet there is leaven in their rudeness and wickedness ; for they are 
not only the Republicans of South America, but have steadily upheld 
democratic ideas for the past century. Especially the Basques are noted 
for their uncompromising independence, which has marked them among 
the Spaniards of Europe since the early years of Rome, The Basques 
who are considered the aborigines of the Spanish peninsula, form a large 
proportion of the Gauchos and of the entire population of the republics 
south of Brazil, From their ranks have come many able rulers and mil- 
itary leaders of the country. 




THE MEXICANS. 

MYTHOLOGY OF MEXICO 

IRADITIONS disagree as to even the direction from which 
the aborigines came who settled upon Mexican soil. The 
first historical race were the Toltecs, who left a written account 
of their government. Their capital was Tula, a short distance 
north of the present City of Mexico. The Toltecs afterwards 
united with a ruder tribe from the north. Immigrations from 
the north were thereafter continuous, and with the influx came 
often improved methods of agriculture, the mechanical arts, 
and a high order of civilization. From various unions of the 
immigrants with the settled population, republics, nations and 
kingdoms were founded, previous to the arrival of the Aztecs, or 
Mexicans, the most important of them all. 

The supposed period of their wanderings varies from fifty to one 
hundred and sixty years. Traces of their journeyings exist in the 
remains of vast fortresses, houses and granaries in New Mexico, Arizona 
and Mexico. The most noted ruins are those found near Casas Grandes, 
a town in Chihuahua, the most northern district of Mexico. The largest 
edifice was built of mud mixed v/ith gravel, and seems originally to have 
been from three to six stories in height. For fifty or sixty miles there- 
from, the plain and banks of the streams are covered with similiar war- 
like ruins and artificial mounds. From the latter have been excavated 
stone axes, corn grinders and fine pottery. 

ITS PRIMITIVE PEOPLE. 

The doorways of these structures have the form of those noticed in 
the ruins of Central America ; and antiquarians are not wanting who 
w^ould give the Aztecs a southern origin. At all events, various tribes 
who spoke the same language settled in the vicinity of Lake Tezcuco 
during the thirteenth and first part of the fourteenth century, and the 
Aztecs established a city therein, approached by long and narrow cause- 

451 



452 THE world's FAIR. 

ways and defended by pQvverful fleets. They absorbed not only the 
first settlers, but the tribes of their own nation, and under the lead of 
their great military chieftain Mexi assumed a new name, and eventually 
gave it to millions of people. The Aztecs were cruel in the extreme, 
but held the reins of government with an able hand, so that when the 
Spaniards came their empire extended over the whole territory of the 
present Republic. 

The judicial system was very complete, but the laws were most 
sanguinary. For embezzlement of the taxes, the offender was put to 
death with all his kindred to the fourth degree. Drunkenness in youth 
was a capital offense. The penalty of death was the rule. 

The Aztecs had no system of writing. The laws, however, were 
few, and were represented by paintings, the judges being attended by 
artists who pictorially described the suits and the parties thereto. 

Prisoners of war were devoured or enslaved, and thousands of 
human victims were sacrificed to their god of war, who was at the head 
of their thirteen deities. Their god of the air, peaceable and benign, 
is said to have been driven from the country, the ruins of one of his 
temples being seen to this day at Cholula. The inferior deities of the 
Aztecs numbered several hundred. In every house, however poor, 
their hideous images were worshiped. Mountains, plains and cities 
were covered with temples erected to the gods of high and low degree, 
and within them were thousands of schools and colleges taught by the 
priests. 

The system which the Aztecs had for the reckoning of time was 
received by them from the Toltecs. Their year of 365 days was divided 
into eighteen months of twenty days each, with the odd days added to 
the last month. After the termination of a cycle of fifty-two years they 
added thirteen days, to allow for the six hours by which the tropical 
year exceeded their civil year. The year, month and day had each its 
hieroglyphic sign, and at the end of every cycle a solemn astronomical 
festival was held. Other features of their system of reckoning time 
indicated that the ancient Mexicans had some correct ideas of the revolu- 
tions of the sun and moon, as did the Hindus, the Persians, the Chal- 
deans and other Asiatic people. 

Agriculture and the manufacture of metals and cotton were at a 
high pitch of excellence. Their cotton cloth was interwoven with rabbit 
hair and feathers, their substitutes for wool and silk. 

" For the rapid transmission of news, towers were erected at intervals 
of six miles along the high roads, where couriers were always in waiting 
for dispatches, which were transferred from hand to hand at each stage. 
Dispatches were thus carried 300 miles in a day." 



THE HOLV CROSS AND VIRGIN. 4.53 

THE HOLY CROSS AND VIRGIN. 

" It is strange, yet well authenticated and has given rise to many 
theories, that the symbol of the cross was already known to the Indians 
before the arrival of Cortes. In the island of Cozumel, near Yucatan, 
there were several ; in Yucatan itself there was a stone cross ; and there, 
an Indian, considered a prophet among his countrymen, had declared 
that a nation bearing the same as a symbol, should arrive from a distant 
country. More extraordinary still w^as a temple dedicated to the Holy 
Cross by the Toltec nation in the City of Cholula. Near Tulansingo 
also is a cross engraved on a rock, with various characters, which the 
Indians, by tradition, attribute to the apostle Saint Thomas. In 
Oajaca also there existed a cross which the Indians from time immemorial 
had been accustomed to consider as a divine symbol. By order of the 
Bishop Cervantes, it was placed in a sumptuous chapel in the Cathedral. 
Information concerning its discovery, together with a small cross cut 
out of its wood, was sent to Rome to Paul the Fifth, who received it on 
his knees, singing a hymn." 

It is likewise remarkable that the Aztec god of war was said to have 
been born of a Holy Virgin, who was in the service of the Great Temple, ■ 
and that when '■he priests would have stoned her to death, having knowl- 
edge of her disgrace, a voice was heard saying : " Fear not, mother, 
for I shall sa^•e thy honor and thy glory." Upon which the god was 
born, as he is represented, with a shield in his left hand, an arrow in his 
right, a plume of green feathers on his head, his face painted blue and 
his left leg adorned with feathers. 

AN ABORIGINAL TRIBE. 

In Yucatan and the adjoining districts of Mexico and Central 
America, the Maya Indians decidedly predominate. They retain their 
ancient language, which is distinct from the Toltec of Mexico, although 
their former system of reckoning time was the same as that which was 
passed down by the Toltecs to the Aztecs. The ruins of the Mayas' 
great temples are supposed to be found at Palenque, Mexico, although 
certain archaeologists insist that they are of Toltec origin ; the truth of 
the matter seems to have been that the two races were closely associated 
at one time, that they were both civilized and retained their own dis- 
tinctive alphabet and language, but absorbed from each other many 
features of their national life. The Mayas cultivated the soil and were of 
a commercial turn, having sailing vessels, and money consisting of shells, 
beans and copper ; but they flattened the heads of their infants, painted 



454 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



and tattooed their bodies, filed their teeth, wore pieces of amber in their 
noses, and in outward appearance were savages. Their rehgion was bar- 
barous, the victims being slain with arrows and thrown into a sacred pit. 
Arrows, spears and copper hatchets, and an armor made of quilted cotton^ 
with salt inside, were their war accoutrements. They had drums and 
wind instruments, and were fond of dancing and drinking a kind of mead. 

THE MEXICAN AS HE IS. 



Although the Indian population of Mexico was distributed among 
the Spaniards as slaves it was of so hardy a fibre that it was not crushed. 
Under priestly leadership, the Indians revolted from Spanish tyranny, 
and finally, in national congress assembled (1813), they declared 
Mexico independent. The quarrels of ambitious leaders were followed 
by a re-establishment of Spanish authority, and by the proclamation of 
the Republic, in 1824, 

The present population consists of Indians, descendants of the early 
Spanish settlers and Spaniards of European birth, 
and mestizos or half-breeds. Two-thirds of the 
population is of Indian blood, and probably one- 
half of the descendants of the Toltecs and Aztecs 
now roam among the mountains of the north, 
without fixed habitations. The native population 
of the City of Mexico devote themselves to vari- 
ous menial occupations, such as those of water 
carriers, domestics, muleteers, and public venders. 
A traveler who has been there, states that 
the street cries of these venders are simply ear- 
splitting. At dawn the coal man and the grease 
man start the concert, being joined somewhat 
later by the butcher. Then follows the woman 
A MEXICAN. ^i^Q buys Idtchen stuff, and she who proposes 

to exchange fruit for any hot peppers which the householder may have 
in stock. Their cries are drowned by a peddler with needles, pins, shirt 
buttons, tape, etc., and behind him stands an Indian with tempting 
baskets of bananas and oranges. A little woman offers " little fat cakei. 
from the oven, hot"; while at midday, cheese and honey and lottery 
chances have their noisy advocates, and towards evening " chestnuts hot 
and roasted," "ducks, oh my soul, hot ducks," and maize cakes. These 
latter are mixed with a little lime and "have been in use all through this 
country since the earliest ages of its history, without any change in the 




MINERS AND MULETEERS. 455 

manner of baking them, excepting that, for the noble Mexicans in 
former days, they used to be kneaded with various medicinal plants, 
supposed to render them more wholesome." 

" One circumstance must be observed by all who travel in Mexican 
territory. There is not one human being or passing object to be seen that 
is not in itself a picture, or which would not form a good subject for the 
pencil. The Indian women, with their plaited hair, and little children slung 
to their backs, their large straw hats, and petticoats of two colors — the 
long strings of arrieros with their loaded mules, and swarthy, wild-looking 
faces — the chance horseman who passes with his sarape of many colors, 
his high ornamented saddle, Mexican hat, silver stirrups and leathern 
boots — all is picturesque." 

MINERS AND MULETEERS. 

Mexico IS an elevated plateau, formed by the expansion of the 
Cordilleras of Central America. Its climate is both tropical and tem- 
perate, and its products partake of both zones. Wheat, oats and corn, 
sugar-cane, pineapples and oranges, the ash, the mahogany, and the palm 
trees are all found. 

The chief natural wealth of Mexico, and which is being gradually 
re-developed by American and European enterprise, consists of its gold 
and silver mines. The gold mines are on the west side of the Sierra 
Madre Mountains, north of Durango. Silver abounds in the western 
declivities of most of the mountains and in the "Vela Madre" lode at 
Guanajuato, it has been discovered in beds of from ten to fifty yards in 
depth, being mixed with sulphur, antimony and arsenic. Carbonate of 
soda, used in smelting silver, is plentiful on the surface of many of the 
lakes and table lands. 

The common miners are, for the most part, of the Indian race. 
They work nearly naked, and sometimes go together in bands, taking 
their equal share of the " find," besides being paid a small sum by the 
company which is operating the mine. On issuing from the mouth of 
the mine, the Indians tnernselves divide the lumps of ore, rich and poor, 
into a certain number of heaps in the presence of an overseer, who 
determines which portion shall be given to them. There are subter- 
ranean offices where the tools and lanterns, or tapers, are kept. These 
are regularly distributed and reclaimed. 

The arriero, or muleteer, is an institution of Mexico, or New Spain. 
He is the type of honesty in a country where that commodity is at a dis- 
count, the most precious freight being unhesitatingly delivered to his 



45^ THE world's fair. 

care. The Indian occasionally rises to the dignity of a proprietor, as 
well as a driver of mules. He has his assistants, or mozos, in whom the 
Indian blood always predominates. The whole cavalcade are armed 
with such weapons as are at hand, as a protection against bandits, who 
are still not unknown. This, of course, is when the journey is to be of 
some distance. It sometimes happens that the arriero, when expecting 
to pass through a particularly dangerous country, thinks best to engage 
the services of a bandit as guide and protector, and when the good silver 
dollars have been fairly passed over to "the gentleman of the road" the 
party has really no need of further uneasiness. 

A MEXICAN BONANZA. 

The American agave, which is often confounded with the aloe, is 
found and cultivated on the highlands of Mexico, and is especially pro- 
lific around the city. The plant often shoots up to a height of thirty feet, 
along the stem being branches of flowers, and at its summit is a crowded 
head of large fleshy leaves. After flowering, the plant dies, but the 
root continues to send up new shoots. The leaves are from five to seven 
feet long, and from their fibres are made thread, paper, oakum, ropes and 
hammocks. Cut into slices they are also used for feeding cattle, and 
the juice of the leaves, or of the roots themselves, makes a very good 
soap. The thorns which terminate the gigantic leaves were the means 
by which the Aztec priests tore their bodies for religion's sake ; they 
were, furthermore, the nails and pins of Mexican antiquit}\ 

But, in the eyes of the natives, its chief value consists in its proper, 
ties as a producer of " pulque." " The moment the experienced Indian 
becomes aware that his maguey (so he calls it) is about to flower, he 
cuts out the heart, covers it over with the side leaves of the plant, and 
all the juice which should have gone to the great stem of the flower 
runs into the empty basin thus formed, into which the Indian, thrice a day 
and during several months in succession, inserts his gourd, a kind of 
syphon, and applying his mouth to the ocher end, draws off the liquor by 
suction. First it is called honey-water and is sweet and scentless ; but 
easily ferments when transferred to the skins or earthen vases where it is 
kept. To assist in its fermentation, however, a little old pulque is added 
to it, and in twenty-four hours after it leaves the plant you may imbibe 
it in all its perfection. It is said to be the most wholesome drink in the 
world, and remarkably agreeable when one has overcome the first shock 
occasioned by its rancid odor. At all events the maguey is a source of 
unfailing profit, the consumption of pulque being enormous, so that 



MEXICAN SPORTS. 457 

many of the richest famiHes in the capital owe their fortune entirely to the 
produce of their magueys. Besides, there is a strong brandy distilled 
from pulque. Together with the maguey grows another immense pro- 
duction of nature, the ' organos,' which resembles the pipes of an organ, 
and being covered with prickles, and about six feet high makes the 
strongest natural fence imaginable." 

MEXICAN SPORTS. 

Though no more elevating than a prize fight, a bull fight is the nat. 
ional sport in Mexico as it is in Spain, A greater variety of classes 
countenance it, or rather thoroughly enjoy it, than in the United States 
applaud the brute contest of man with man. 

Mexican bulls are much smaller than those of Spain, but when one 
bounds into the ring, lashing his tail, rolling his wild eyes, finally fixing 
them upon the matadors and picadors, armed with their colored scarfs 
and their lances, and with head down dashes furiously at them, now 
pricked with their weapons, now maddened by exploding fire-crackers, 
now lifted off his feet and rolled in the dust by a mounted picador, now 
crushing a horseman to the ground, bellowing, covered with blood, fran- 
tically charging at nothing, at bay, waiting for renewed strength, stuck 
full of darts, stabbed to his death, still fighting off the darkness, stag- 
gering, dead — when a Mexican bull is thus goaded, and so desperately 
and hopelessly strives for life and revenge, few would wish for a mam- 
moth brute of Andalusia or Castile to prolong the contest. 

The ceremony of stamping the bulls with the owner's name is a 
great treat for the country people, and especially the Indians, who 
assemble for miles around to see the sight. They occupy every tree 
and point of ground overlooking the enclosure, while within, out of 
harm's way, a platform is erected for agents and small farmers, with 
their gayly dressed wives and daughters. The men themselves, who are 
the principals, are not averse to show, as witness the silver rolls and 
gold linings of their hats, new deerskin pantaloons and embroidered 
jackets with silver buttons. Well, sometimes nearly a thousand bulls 
are driven in from the plains, and then three or four at a time are 
forced into the enclosure, where the men are impatiently waiting with 
their lassoes to receive them. Although the bellowing brutes frequently 
wound or kill their men, their ultimate fate is inevitable. They are 
thrown to the ground, and although they dash their heads against It In 
rage and despair, they are branded with the evidence of their serfdom. 
Some of the bulls, when fairly conquered, seem too proud to utter a 



45^ THE world's fair. 

sound ; others, when the iron enters their flesh, burst out into roars 
which start the echoes for miles around. After a great number of the 
bulls have been caught and branded, it is customary for the spectators 
to be treated to a bull feast. The dead animal is given by the proprie- 
tor to the torcadores, and buried by them in a fire-hole. It is then 
covered with earth and branches, and left to bake. 

Cock-fighting is as fashionable a sport in Mexico as bull-fight- 
ing. The exhibition is attended by ladies of the highest society, who 
sit in boxes around the pit, betting with the gentlemen on their favor- 
ites. Their toilet is brilliant, and the men promenade around the circle, 
attired, whatever their station, in short jackets. " The President of the 
Republic, his suite and a sprinkling of foreign ministers were in attend- 
ance"; — this would not be so remarkable a truth to state. As a small 
knife is fastened to the leg of each bird, the fights are sometimes short 
and most bloody, the spectators clapping their hands and otherwise 
giving way to their enthusiasm when a more than usually brilliant stroke 
is delivered. 

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 

The approach to the city, which stands on an extensive plateau 
surrounded by lofty mountains, is grand in the extreme. The general 
figure of the valley of Mexico is an irregular oval, sixty by thirty-five 
miles, and in the center is the city itself, around which cluster so many 
memories of the ancient empire of the Aztecs. Its area of more than 
1700 square miles, includes five lakes. Once within the city, the 
most striking features are tlie great Plaza Mayor, pronounced one of 
the finest squares in the Western world, and its broad, raised, paved 
streets, lined with double rows of trees, extending far out into the 
country and all converging at the public square. 

In the times of Montezuma three causeways led from his capital to 
firm land, the streets were intersected with canals and all around were 
thousands of skimming canoes, which were the principal means of com- 
munication with the outside empire. Only one of the canals — that of 
Chalco — is now maintained. The causeways remain, enlarged, and 
there are several other new ones, some of them being lined with pop- 
lars. They became, in fact, the groundwork of more than one grand 
thoroughfare, for which the city is noted, and along two of them, those 
of Tacuba and Chapultepec, fresh water is brought from the mountains. 

The aqueduct of Chapultepec is over two miles in length and that 
of Sante Fe six miles. The hill of Chapultepec formerly sprung from 
near the margin of the lake, and at its foot are still the remains of an 
ancient garden, now a tangled labyrinth of myrtle, jessamine and sweet 



THE CITY OF MEXICO. 459 

peas, from which peep out stained marble fountains, fish-ponds and 
baths. The garden encircles the base of the rock, which is about a 
mile in circumference, and is, all in all, a sad but beautiful memento of 
the days when Montezuma retreated to its solitudes, even when the 
Spanish invaders were marching rapturously toward his Venetian capital. 

Within the Plaza Mayor of the city is a magnificent cathedral, 
erected on the ruins of the wonderful temple of the Aztec God Mixitli. 
It is adorned with the " Kallenda," a circular stone covered with hiero- 
glyphics representing the months of the year. This is a mass of por- 
phyry, 24 tons in weight. The ancient temple included not only the 
site of the cathedral and the plaza, but much of the outlying territory, 
for its massive stone walls are said to have included five hundred dwell- 
ings and colleges for the priests and seminaries for the priestesses, mys- 
terious minor temples and sanctuaries, consecrated fountains, gardens 
of holy flowers, towers built of human skulls, and squares designed for 
religious dances. We are told that " five thousand priests chanted 
night and day in the great Temple, to the honor and in the service of 
the monstrous idols, who were anointed thrice a day with the most pre- 
cious perfumes, and that of these priests the most austere were clothed 
in black, their long hair dyed with ink, and their bodies anointed with 
the ashes of burnt scorpions and spiders." 

The Christian cathedral is gothic in form, with two lofty towers, the 
entire structure being richly ornamented with gold, silver and precious 
stones. Inside is a quaint balustrade of brass and silver, which was 
brought from China. This, with a few kneeling Indian women and beggars, 
some of them lepers, includes the usual sights of the interior. In the 
courtyard, without, is a large stone, hollowed in the middle, upon which 
the ancient Mexican was held by six Aztec priests, while the seventh cut 
open his breast, and, with a golden spoon, put his heart into the mouth 
of the idol. It has been surmised that this is the " exceedingly great 
stone " w^iich was found by the Mexicans as late as the reign of Monte- 
zuma, when it was recorded that it was brought to the capital with great 
labor and pomp for the sacrifices, on which occasion 12,210 victims were 
immolated. The stone is a cylindrical mass of porphyry, twenty-five 
feet in circumference, covered both on the surface and sides with sculp- 
tures in relief. 

The palace of the Cortez, in the same square, is a vast irregular 
structure containing goverment offices, schools and public institutions of 
various kinds, but is falling into decay. Nearly a hundred churches and 
convents, theaters, and a circus for bull-fights, with memories of bye-gone 
<iays clinging to every square mile of the city and its suburbs, deserted 



46o THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

houses, gardens and chapels, and miraculous Spanish tales springing up 
from countless spots of holy ground — such is the region which is so 
filled up with strange contrasts of the old and the new, of worldliness, 
religion and superstition. 

HOLY WEEK. 

Holy Week in Mexico collects every element of the republic's 
population. Inside the great cathedral, on Palm Sunday, a dense for- 
est is gently waving ; for an army of half-naked Indians have brought 
their branches of palms with them, and are swaying, expectantly, under 
the knowledge that the priests will soon approach. Each palm, which 
is dried and ingeniously plaited, is about six feet high, and when it has 
been blessed, will be carried home and placed reverently upon the wall 
of the little hut. 

On Holy Thursday all of Mexico is in the streets, showing its best 
clothes ; for no carriages are permitted abroad. There are rich senoras 
in velvets, satins, diamonds and pearls ; women of lower rank in richly 
embroidered muslins, lace trimmed petticoats and white satin shoes ; 
others showing their Indian blood in feature as well as by their gay- 
colored petticoats and garments ; handsome peasant women, attired as 
richly as any ; graceful children, with their masses of hair plaited and falling 
down their backs, their costumes determined b}' diverse tastes ; men of all 
nationalities, French, German, American, Spanish ; the Mexican with 
his large hat and embroidered jacket — all are at the capital to enjoy 
themselves, and most of them to suspend their jabberings, quarrelings 
and flirtations, and fall upon their knees at the approach of anything 
which is considered holy. Around the great square the scene is bewild- 
ering, especially at sunset of Good Friday, when the Procession of the 
Cross attracts tens of thousands of devout Catholics from all the huts 
and palaces of the country. The poor Indians appear again in force; 
the men in their blankets, the women trotting along, their black hair 
plaited with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woolen cloth wrapped around 
them, and a little mahogany baby hanging behind, its face upturned to 
the sky and its head jerking vigorously, but escaping dislocation. 

The same scenes, only on a smaller scale, are repeated in the 
country villages. They ha\-e their market-places and little churches, 
monasteries anci high-walled gardens, narrow lanes, Indian nuts, roses 
and trees, and the scenes in Christ's life portra3'ed by living actors in 
the most public places. The holy dramas and the festivities are accom- 
panied by good music; which would not be expected of every American 
village, though it is true of every Mexican town. Music, it has been 
said, is a sixth sense in Mexico. 



FEMALE BEAUTY. 

FEMALE BEAUTY. 



46] 



Those who have investigated the subject of female beauty are posi- 
tive that the most comely Indians are not found in the towns but in the 
country. Even those who come to the city with their fruit and vegeta- 
bles, although very gentle and polite, are not as a rule beautiful. 
Occasionally, however, there flashes out from this general monotony a 
face and form, soft and yet dark-hued ; wonderful black eyes and hair, 
pearly teeth, and delicately molded hands and feet, arms and bust alive 
with lines of beauty — such a vision as might have captivated Cortes 
himself, and which may be a modern wit- 
ness to the far-famed beauty of the ancient 
Aztec women of noble blood. 

It is said that the Indians (men) near 
the City of Mexico, are, many of them, of 
noble Aztec blood, although, outwardly, 
they seem as degraded as the natives of 
the countr}^ districts. The existence of 
enormous hidden wealth is even reported 
among some of these ragged and-bare- 
footed specimens. 

The wives and daughters of farmers, 
who ride into market on horseback sitting 
in front of their servants, are, at times, 
charming types of bright, healthy beauty, 
but it is seldom that one is startled with 
an apparition of beauty. Usually the 
women of the better classes acquire a 
coarseness and a corpulence in early life 
because of the quantities of meat and 
sweatmeats which are consumed in so mild 
a climate. Indian Avomen can not afford 
it. Their diet is mild and more suited 
to the country, and they take sufficient 
fresh air and exercise to shade down any natural tendency to cor- 
pulency. 

The native woman is etherialized, also, by her love for flowers 
which seems to be an undying passion born in the Mexican blood. In 
the market-places she often loads her little stand of green branches with 
bright-hued floweVs, which she sells if she can, and with which she be- 
decks herself if she does not find a purchaser. Many of the Indian 





A MEXICAN GIRL. 



4^2 THE world's FAIR. 

women bring their fruit and vegetaoies by way of the canal, and their 
canoes, as they gHde along, seem moving gardens of sweet peas, 
poppies and roses, each with a flower-goddess in the center. In the 
evening, after they have disposed of their regular "truck," they crown 
■ themselves with garlands, and start, singing, on their homeward journey. 
In the village churches, floor, walls, and altar are decorated with these 
fresh trophies, and a christening, a marriage and a funeral are occasions 
where the Indian woman buries herself and all around her in nature's 
choicest gifts of the earth. 

IN THE SUBURBS. 

Before the Aztecs nad acquired dominion over the other tribes and 
states they were obliged to live not only upon the natural islands of Lakes 
Tezcuco and Chalco, but upon land which they formed by weaving to- 
gether the roots of plants and twigs, placing upon this soft soil, which they 
drew from the bottom of the lake, and upon this ground sowing their 
maize, chili and other necessary plants. Flowers and herbs followed, 
and the lakes were soon dotted with floating gardens, which became 
gems of pure beauty, when Tenochtitlan was the mighty capital of the 
Aztec empire. The once floating gardens have now become fixtures in 
the marshy grounds between the two lakes.-. They are covered with 
cauliflowers, chili, tomatoes, cabbages and other vegetables, intermixed 
with flowers. The gardens are separated by narrow trenches of water, 
and each has its small Indian hut and flower-loving, musical occupants. 
Tinkling guitars, children and adults, garlanded with roses and poppies 
and gaily dancing, jars of pulque and long festoons of dried and salted 
beef, are elements which may be combined in various ways to make up 
home and out-door pictures of life in this vicinity. Unfortunately, the 
stronger brandy is apt to succeed the rnild pulque, and the music, sing- 
ing and dancing. A drunken brawl, the flash of a knife in one of the 
little huts, or on the sward outside, a. cry of pain and a corpse, is fre- 
quently the finis of this Arcadian picture. 

These Indian huts have usually mud floors, and small altars, with 
palm leaf branches or leaves (which have been blessed) in one corner. 
The Virgin is generally represented by a collection of daubs on one 
wall. The other decorations are earthen vessels, a few tough, half- 
naked children and some dirty dogs. The Indian woman is within, or 
she may be off" to work, having left her pots, children and dogs to take / 
care of themselves. 




NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

ALASKA. 




HE regions of Alaska which are really known are confined 
to the coast, and the district inhabited by others than the 
Pj^l^ l native Indians is virtually included in the region about Sitka, 
or New Archangel. What has been learned of the interior of 
the country has come through rather indefinite native sources. 
Fort Yukon, at the junction of the Yukon and Porcupine 
Rivers, is the most northerly station of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, and some 900 miles east of the coast. The traders 
occasionally obtain information, with furs, from the natives, but 
the former is scant indeed. Sitka, as capital of the territory, 
and St. Paul, on Kadiak Island, as the main depot of the seal fisheries, 
are where tourists mostly seek news of the country. The Yukon and 
the smaller rivers have been explored, and it is safe to say that no 
stories told about the salmon can be too large. 

Geologically, Alaska will prove a pregnant field for scientists, and 
lovers of the grand and the beautiful will be attracted even more 
strongly. All along the Pacific Coast there are glaciers filling the 
mountain gorges, and terminating at the sea in magnificent masses of 
overhanging ice. One of the most remarkable of these grand exhibi- 
tions, of which nature is so wonderfully lavish, is the Muir's Glacier, of 
Glacier Bay, a product of the Sitka Mountains. The swiftest and 
strongest pen falls far behind the reality in describing this frozen river, 
which stands as high as the loftiest cathedral, is two miles across and 
forty miles in length. 

REMNANTS OF THE GREAT TRIBES. 

The Athabascans compose a great family which has left its mark all 

over the western portions of British America, in the names of rivers and 

lakes, although its own name was given it by the Algonquins. The 

tribes of Alaska and British America are mild and industrious, greatly 

463 



PRESENT WAYS OF LIVING. 465 

resembling the Esquimaux in their mode of Hving, especially in the skill 
which they show in the construction and use of their fishing weapons 
and their taste in carving their ornaments. Unlike the Esquimaux, 
however, who are most unsatisfactory as historical subjects, they retain 
traditions of a journey from the icy regions and islands of the great 
northwest. Another peculiarity which distinguishes them both from 
Esquimaux and other Indians is a heavy beard ; otherwise they have 
square heads, short hands and feet, and greatly resemble a Siberian 
Tungoose. 

The tribes of this family, comprise the native interior population of 
Alaska; the Esquimaux occupying the northern coasts, and the Aleuts 
the Aleutian and adjacent islands. The latter have been classed both 
as Esquimaux and as Indians, but have been in contact with the Rus- 
sians for so many years as factors, or traders, that they have lost their 
national characteristics. In Alaska, the Athapascans are known as Ke- 
naians, a tribe by that name dwelling.on the peninsula of Kenai, between 
Cook's Inlet and Prince William Sound. These tribes are principally 
settled along the Yukon River, which, from the Rocky Mountains, cuts 
through the country for eighteen hundred miles and empties into Behr- 
ing Sea. 

PRESENT WAYS OF LIVING, 

The waters of all the rivers and streams abound in salmon. They 
are caught and dried by the Indians, some of whom use the typical 
birch-bark canoe in their journeys up and down. The work of catching 
salmon in Alaska rivers is not difficult ; during the spawning season the 
streams are simply black with them, and it is no uncommon sight to see 
the banks piled up with dead fish to a height of three feet, the waves 
having cast ashore those which were weak and injured. 

Even now the Esquimaux and the Athabascans come into conflict, 
although their habits and beliefs are in many ways similar ; but, as a 
rule, they are mostly employed, either individually or by traders, in col- 
lecting fossil ivory, hunting the fox, beaver, marten, otter, mink, lynx 
and wolverine ; occasionally also fishing for the ulikon, which is 
abundant in some sections and celebrated as the fattest of known fish. 
Other ocean game engages their attention and taxes their ingenuity, 
which seems never to be found wanting. 

The most original of their hooks, and which was especially photo- 
graphed from the real thing for us, is so constructed that when the 
fish snaps at his bait he not only gets hooked, but finds his head 
wedged into a sort of framework, so that he can not break away in either 



THE Indian's totem. 467 

direction. The fish line, or rope, is made from a number of strands 
which consist of tough wood fibre, all twisted together in the neatest 
and most substantial fashion. The hook is fastened ini;o a piece of wood 
which is grotesquely carved to represent a man playing a flute. 

The Alaska Indians are as fond of playing cards as many of their 
Siberian ancestors, but most of the American natives show Yankee skill 
in making their own implements of the game. They consist, in some 
cases, of little round pieces of hard wood, in shape like a finger, which 
are smoothed and polished and carved into faces and figures. The man- 
ner in which they play their games has not yet transpired, but the form 
of their cards would preclude much shuffling. 

The center of the fur-seal industry is 1,400 miles west of Alaska, on 
the Pribylov Islands, in the very heart of Behring Sea, but within 
American waters. It is monopolized by the Alaska Commercial Com- 
pany of San Francisco, and by Act of Congress seals may only be killed 
in June, July, September and October; firearms may not be used, or 
other means employed to drive the seals away ; neither female seals, nor 
those less than one year old, can be killed. The act also limits the num- 
ber to be killed, in addition to those required for food by the natives, to 
100,000 annually. St. Paul and St. George are the two islands of the 
above group where the seals resort for breeding purposes, the shores 
being well drained and gently sloping, and peculiarly adapted to the 
habi!!s of the animals. The males usually arrive early in June, as"many as 
possible selecting and defending a few square feet of land upon which 
to establish their families when the females appear, about a month later. 
Only to the brave, however, flock the fair, the result being that more 
males are bachelors than heads of families. The bachelor seals have 
their separate grounds, and they are the ones who are the victims of the 
hunter. Armed with thick clubs about five feet in length, and with 
knives, the natives drive the seals from their hauling grounds which 
the animals have themselves selected, to the killing grounds which 
the men have laid out. The next process is simply to knock them on 
the head, stab them to the heart, and skin them. The skins are then 
salted, piled in bins where they are allowed to pickle for several 
weeks, and then rolled into bundles of two skins each, with the hairy side 
out, ready for shipment. 

THE INDIAN'S "TOTEM." 

Returning to the continent, it is found that among the Kenai 
Indians there are more distinct traces of Asiatic blood than among the 
Aleuts. They have their Shaman as do the Siberian tribes, and uphold 



468 THE world's fair. 

a species of caste. After burning the dead, the ashes are generally 
placed in a leather bag, which is suspended to a painted pole ; some of 
the tribes, however, put the corpse on a staging, or even bury it decently 
and erect a wooden tomb over it. Marriage is not allowed between 
members of the same clan or family, the children belonging to the 
mother's clan. Trousers and shoes are fastened to a kind of leather 
tunic ; which latter is worn of greater length by the women, rounded in 
front and trimmed with shells. The men paint their faces and wear 
shells in the nose, while the women tattoo lines on the chin. Personal 
beauty is said to favor the men, who, however, are in the minority. 
When girls arrive at a marriageable age they are separated from the 
rest for one year, and wear a peculiar bonnet with fringe over the face. 
The winter houses of some of the tribes are underground, as are the 
Esquimaux, and they are all given as much to barter a? the Arctic race. 
Their money is either shells or beads. 

The Alaskans are divided into many tribes, and each tribe has its 
peculiar totem, or symbol, as was the case with the Iroquois of New 
York, or the Six Nations ; and the totem is still an institution with many 
of the tribes of the United States. There are Beaver, Crow, Rat, 
Turtle and all other kinds of Indians among the Alaskans, and each 
tribe has in front of its village a totem pole, on which is carved the 
figure or combination of figures which constitutes its coat-of-arms. These 
may even be seen in fascinating variety along the coast in the neighbor- 
hood of Sitka. 

The totem originates in the wide-spread Indian tradition that the 
red man's creation results from the union of a spirit with some of the 
lower animals, and the bird, beast or fish which he fixes upon as one of 
his parents becomes his totem. There are tribal totems and family 
totems. As to the latter, the skin of the totem is " carefully stuffed, 
bedecked with ornaments and feathers, is tied to a staff and carried 
about in the hand on grand full-dress occasions. In good weather it is^ 
stuck up in front of the door of the lodge, and when the head of the 
family dies it is suspended to the top of a strong, high pole, which is 
firmly planted beside his grave. It is the family crest, the title of honor, 
the symbol of its ancestry and descent, and whatever may be the name of 
the individual of that family, his signature is a rude representation of 
the creature to which he believes he owes his origin." The above 
applies more particularly to the tribes of the Western plains. 

THE FLATHEADS. 
Upon their reservation in Washington Territory is a small band 



THE APACHES. 469 

of Chinooks, a tribe of Indians who, at one time, lived on the coasts of 
Oregon and Washington and the banks of the Columbia River. They 
would be unworthy of mention were it not that they still conform to a 
custom which was in vogue with the ancient tribes of Mexico, Central 
America and Peru, and with the mound-builders whose skulls have been 
excavated in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio. Either by bind- 
ing a piece of board or tightly braided grass upon their infants' heads, 
and suspending them so that the feet are the highest portions of their 
bodies, the Chinooks manage to flatten the soft, little craniums out of 
all natural shape. These Indians are small and unprepossessing, are 
filthy in their habits, but are shrewd and intelligent, ingenious in the 
construction of their household utensils and fishing weapons, as well as 
being of quite an artistic turn of mind. The Indians known as Fiat- 
heads are not flatheads, in fact, they having never adopted the cus- 
tom of thus disfiguring themselves. They are located on a reservation 
in Western Montana, and are a remarkable instance of instinctive 
elevation. When they were half starved and naked, they voluntarily 
sent for a missionary and invited others to settle among them who could 
improve their condition. Willing to work, they made rapid progress in 
agriculture and industrial pursuits, obtained horses and cattle and, what 
was better, schools and churches. The Flatheads are naturally peace- 
able, but they have fought bravely against the Sioux when attacked. 
They belong to the Selish family. 

A few hundred of the Athapascans live on the banks of the Colum- 
bia River, Oregon, and they and other small tribes, although they do 
not attempt to fix the time, have traditions, which are borne out by 
geological evidences, that several of the peaks of the Cascade Moun- 
tains were active volcanoes. The Nez Perces, the Wallawallas, and 
other minor tribes occupy reservations or native grounds in Idaho and 
Oregon, on the Columbia or Snake River. 

THE APACHES. 

To set a fierce Apache against one of these fishing, hunting and 
trading Indians is a wonderful contrast, and remarkable when it is con- 
sidered that they are of the same stock. Only a few hundred of the 
15,000 or 20,000 who have fortified themselves in the Sierra Nevada 
and Rocky Mountains, along the rivers of the United States and Mex- 
ico, periodically issuing forth to harass settlers and give the national 
troops a brisk campaign, have been brought under government control. 
For fifty years previous to the war one of their wonderful chiefs brought 
imposing forces into the field, but with his death the tribe has scattered; 




TOTEM POLES AN'D INDIAN HUTS, FORT MANGELI., ALASKA. 



THE DAKOTAS. 47I 

although the fragments are still troublesome enough. The Apaches 
fight upon the fly, being mounted upon small, wiry ponies, which are 
guided by a simple cord passed under the jaws. Their principal weapon 
is a very long, iron-pointed arrow, which they shoot with the most 
unerring precision. The chief, or captain of a band, in addition to the 
breech-cloth, or blanket, wears a buckskin helmet, ornamented with a 
feather. The common warrior goes dashing at his enemy bareheaded, 
and if he kills him disdains to take his scalp. Both sexes ornament 
themselves with pearl shells or rough carvings of wood, and wear high 
buckskin moccasins. Their feet being thus confined are so small that 
an Apache's trail is easily recognized. 

When in their mountain retreats the Apaches live in lodges built 
of light boughs and twigs, resting from their labors of the field and 
allowing the women to do all the work of collecting fuel, besides per- 
forming the regular duties of the household. Their songs are not 
weirdly sweet, and their card-playing, of which they are very fond, is 
probably not according to Hoyle; but their smoking is sedate and 
quite proper. The women as they move about, perhaps carrying infants 
in osier baskets at their backs, are seen to wear short petticoats and no 
ornaments. The African, the Polynesian, the Australian and the 
Esquimau, however much they may abuse their wives, generally allow 
them the feminine luxury of adorning their persons, but the Indian 
even cuts off this enjoyment. When the Apache travels he loads his 
wife with provisions, upon a horse, fastening the basket cradle of his 
papoose to the saddle. 

Should the warriors not return from battle the women cut off their 
long, loose hair as a sign of mourning. 

Montezuma seems to be an Apache deity, although the savage pro- 
fesses a belief in a Supreme Being. White birds and the bear are 
sacred to them, and the hog they consider unclean. 

THE DAKOTAS. 

The traditions of the Dakotas are more pregnant in thought to the 
student, who is forced to trace the progenitors of the American Indian to 
Asia, than those of any other of the Indian families. Their language, 
also, is Mongolian in its structure. According to their traditions they 
were driven back from the Mississippi River by the Algonquins, after 
they had slowly advanced from the Pacific Coast and the Northwest. 
Only one tribe, the Winnebagook (Winnebagoes), pushed through the 
ranks of their enemies, setding on the shores of Lake Michigan, where 



THE DAKOTAS. 



473 



they were held in check. There, in the regions adjacent to Green Bay, 
they lorded it over many of the tribes with such a high hand that they 
were attacked and nearly exterminated by an allied Indian force. Yet 
they were still warlike and troublesome, and after they had ceded over 
two million and a half acres of their lands to the Government, they were 
removed west of the Mississippi, then hither and thither, to Dakota, 

Minnesota, Ne- 
braska — and 
where not? 
There,as in other 
States, they com- 
menced to culti- 
vate land, build 
cottages and 
schools, and 
dress and live 
like white men. 
It was formerly 
the practice of 
the agents to de- 
pose and appoint 
their chiefs at 
will ; now they 
are elected. 
The Winneba- 
goes left in Wis- 
consin are self- 
supporting and 
peaceable. 

Other tribes 
of the Dakota 
f a m i 1 }' have 
given us the 
following geo- 
graphical names: 

Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Osage, Omaha and Sioux. There were also 
the Upsarokas, or Crows. A few of the family yet remain within 
the British possessions, but the majority of them are on reservations 
in the northeastern part of Indian Territory, in Eastern Nebraska, in 
Southern Dakota and Montana. 




A SIOUX WARRIOR. 



474 'THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

THE SIOUX. 

The Sioux are still the powerful tribe of the family, as they always 
have been, and were the arch enemies of the Algonquins, especially the 
Chippewas. The fortunes of war were various, the Sioux preferring to 
fight upon the plain and the Chippewas in the woods, but, as has been 
stated, the Sioux were, after a century or so of warfare, driven from the 
headwaters of the Mississippi to the south. By the early part of this 
century the bulk of the nation was upon the Missouri River, although 
native villages were scattered from Northern Minnesota to the Black Hills. 
During the first part of our civil war the Sioux commenced to prepare 
for a general uprising, on account of dissatisfaction with the way they 
were being treated by the Government and its agents, and eventually 
the whole of Minnesota and the regions bordering on the Missouri, 
with the Western Plains, were the scenes of their massacres and hos- 
tilities. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills, and subsequent 
troubles with Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, on account of 
their reluctance to part with their grounds, are matters of recent record. 
Some of the most warlike bands fled to British territory, others agreed 
to go to their immense Dakota reservation. There 30,000 of them are 
supposed to cover 34,000,000 acres of land. Churches and schools 
have been established among them, and the younger generation show 
aptitude and patience. The settled bands have their tribal form of 
government, and are raisers of live-stock, and agriculturists ; notwith- 
standing which, the Sioux may yet be called an uncertain quantity in 
the Indian problem. 

In December, 1890, several thousand Sioux braves took the war 
path. Many of them were armed with Winchester rifles, and they were 
lashed into rebellion by a religious craze which took the form of a belief 
in an Indian Messiah who was to lead not only the living warriors but 
the ghosts of the dead against the white foes. They claimed also that 
Government agents were cheating them out of their rations. Actual 
hostilities were preceded by the "ghost dance," the Messiah fanatics 
being led on by the wily old mischief maker, Sitting Bull. 

United States troops were at once dispatched to the threatened 
scene of hostilities in Southwestern Dakota, near the Pine Ridge 
Agency, the Sioux braves gathering in the Bad Lands between the 
Cheyenne and White Rivers. The Indian police did brave work every- 
where. Among their most unfortunate ventures was the capture of Sit- 
ting Bull, as he, his sons and a party of warriors, were about starting 
from the vicinity of Standing Rock Agency, Grand River, to the ren- 



THE SIOUX. 475 

dezvous in the Bad Lands. Both men and ponies were in war paint, 
ready for mischief. Sitting Bull was seized, but not bound. The son of 
the old Medicine Man urged his comrades to recapture his father, and 
with yells the hostiles charged and fired upon the police. The police 
responded, and during the fierce fight the Medicine Man and his son 
were pierced with bullets. The government police were surrounded 
and would undoubtedly have been annihilated, had they not been res- 
cued by a cavalry force which brought two machine guns to bear 
upon the warlike Sioux. The death of Sitting Bull removed a dangerous 
fire-brand. Soon afterward, the Sioux were surrounded near Pine 
Ridge Agency, and gave up the fight as hopeless. 

INDIAN RELIGION AND MEDICINE. 

The Indian believes in the Good God and tne Bad God, and he 
speaks of the latter deity with the greatest disinclination, Gods and 
spirits of the plains, rivers and mountains also play a bold role in his 
faith. He does not apply morality to his religion, but whatever thwarts 
his aims he attributes to the Bad God. The Good God helps him to kill 
his enemy, steal the wife of a friend or raid a white settlement. No 
prayers are necessarily offered to the Good God. 

Death by strangulation bars the Indian out of the Happy Hunting 
Grounds, for his soul is supposed to escape through the mouth, which 
opens at the moment of dissolution. It was formerly a universal belief 
with the Indians of the plains that scalping an enemy annihilated his 
soul. This is now quite a general superstition ; also one that each per- 
son killed by them, and not scalped, will be their servant in the next 
world. They have their good omens and their bad. One of their most 
common ways of preparing medicine, which they use as it turns out 
good or bad, is to take earth, sand, ashes of plants or bones, and, mixing 
them in a shallow dish, stir the ingredients. If by the combination of 
colors and figures the Indian is convinced that his Good God has charge 
of his affairs, he places the mixture in tiny deer skin bags and ties them in 
his hair, upon the tail of his war horse and around the necks of his 
women and children. Should the mixture prove to be bad medicine, 
or an indication that his Bad God has the upper hand, the stuff is taken 
outside the camp and secretly buried. The exact nature of this mixture 
is a close secret between the individual and his gods. He is forever 
making the medicine, and takes not the smallest step without consult- 
ing it. 

The Indians have different ways of propitiating the Evil One. 



476 THE world's pair. 

When he brings them into great danger a common vow is to consecrate 
a pony to his service, should he allow them to escape. When this is 
done the animal is never again mounted, is treated with care and even 
tenderness. 

When the warrior dies the pony which is killed for him, and the 
weapons which are laid on his grave, will appear as phantoms and serve 
him in the Happy Hunting Grounds. If he falls in battle, cut or shot to 
pieces, his shade, in the next world, will appear mutilated and imperfect. 
In fact, in every particular, he commences his spirit life in the beyond 
under the conditions which govern his material life. If a body is pierced 
with arrows, the Indian, particularly the Sioux, believes that the soul will 
be always tormented with ghostly arrows. Should a warrior, or his 
enemiy be killed in the dark, darkness w^ill be his eternal portion. The 
fear of meeting this fate has deterred more than one savage from 
murderous midnight attacks upon the wagon trains of the plains. 

There is nardly a tribe which agrees with another as to the length 
of time which it required for a soul to pass from this earth to the Happy 
Hunting Grounds ; the ideas vary from one to two days, to as many 
months. If the period is long, food and water are brought to the grave, 
generally by the female mourners. The entire journey is conceived to 
lie over a dreary space, devoid of all the necessities of life; hence the 
provisions, the phantoms of food and water to supply the needs of the 
spirit traveler. 

The Medicine Chief of a band of Indians divides the honors with 
the war chief, obtaining, if anything, more than an equal share. He is 
always dignified, the owner of the most attractive wives and ponies, holds 
no social intercourse with any except the principal men of the tribe, is 
the spiritual head of the tribe and the recipient of the confidences of the 
women, is the all-powerful physician of both body and soul, and when 
the fighting force takes the field, he proves his faith in his own power 
and religion by entering into the heat of the fight and the thick of the 
carnage. With the weakening of the authority of the head chief, the 
Medicine Chief has, if anything, gained in influence. 

The Medicine Chief is assisted in his work of exorcising evil spirits 
by a band of women, who howl to the drone of his incantations. Their 
wails and howls draw the women of the other lodges- to the scene of 
action, and this deafening chorus is intensified by a muscular young 
priest who beats a tom-tom over the head of the poor patient. When 
the Medicine Chief dies, his successor steps into the coveted position 
only by coming forward with the claim that he has found the medi- 
cine which will keep away the Bad God, and then proving it by 
obtruding himself into every danger and coming out unscathed. 



THE MEDICINE DANCE. 477 

Many of the western tribes of Indians have a mysterious some- 
thing, which is in careful charge of the head chief or Medicine Chief, 
it being wrapped in a number of compHcated coverings. Its influ- 
ences are all good, and it is always carried in war, or on important expe- 
ditions, by the Medicine Chief. Each tribe, as well as each Indian, has, 
of course, a particular medicine; but this thing is different — it goes 
withou t a name. The tribal medicine of the Cheyennes is a bundle 
of arrows, wrapped in skins and placed in a small case of stiff raw-hide. 
It was captured by the Pawnees, some years ago, and the whole tribe 
was thrown into a panic, expecting instant annihilation. Runners were 
dispatched ; but the medicine was not regained until the Cheyennes 
had paid the Pawnees three hundred ponies. The Utes attribute many 
of their late troubles to the capture by the Arapahoes of a little squat 
stone figure which they had adopted as the " tribal medicine." 

THE MEDICINE DANCE. 

In former days the Medicine Chief had power of life and death 
over the actions of the dancers, each of whom was placed in a large 
ring, his eyes fixed upon an image suspended from above, and hav- 
ing in his mouth a small whistle ; as he danced hour after hour, he con- 
tinued to blow upon the whistle and keep his head painfully thrown 
back upon his shoulders. Eight or ten hours of this distressing per- 
formance would generally throw some of the warriors into a faint. 
They were then dragged out of the ring, and if not revived by the 
mystic figures which the priest painted upon their faces and bodies, cold 
water was thrown over them. He might order them back until they 
actually danced themselves to death. In case the dance progressed to 
the end of the appointed time without the occurrence of any misfor- 
tune, the tribe were assured of good medicine, which generally induced 
them to go to war. 

If the exhausted warriors could not be revived, the dance was broken 
up in confusion. The women shrieked and inflicted ghastly wounds 
upon themselves. The men howled and rushed off to kill their horses 
for the use of the warriors who had preceded them to the Happy Hunt- 
ing Grounds. Bad Medicine had been proclaimed; the Bad God had 
them well in hand. 

The Indians still have their medicine dances (in lodges which the 
women construct), but the Medicine Chief is no longer autocrat, and 
whether the omen is good or bad is determined, in a general way, by 
the conduct of the different bands toward each other, by the attitude of 
the elements toward the festivities and by the fervor displayed in this 



478 THE world's fair. 

aboriginal revival. The dancers, however, gaze at the same dangling 
image — the Good God (painted white) on one side, and the Bad God 
(black) on the other ; some enter to display their costumes, some to 
show their powers of endurance, and others from pure religious fervor 
or because they hope to thus propitiate the Bad God for some evil he 
has brought to them. But all are at liberty to withdraw when they see 
fit, the duration of the dance being fixed at four days. A United 
States officer, who lived for over thirty years among the Indians of the 
West, is authority for the statement that some of the dancers keep in 
motion before their image, blowing constantly upon their whistles, for 
seventy-five hours without sleep, food or drink. 

Succeeding the medicine dance, and occasionally as a portion of the 
proceedings, is the self-torture of the braves. Here the Medicine Chief 
also is master of ceremonies, and with his own hand makes the incisions 
in the muscles of the breast, through which horsehair ropes are passed 
and tied to 'pieces of wood ; or he uses his broad-bladed knife on the 
muscles of the back, lifting them from the bones and passing a rope 
underneath, with a stick at the end so as to keep it fast. The free ends 
of the ropes are either attached to poles of the lodge or to heavy mov- 
able objects, and the aim is to tear the sticks from the wounds and 
obtain freedom. Sometimes the Indian is unable at once to do this, and 
must remain without food or water until the tissues soften ; but it is 
good medicine to tear loose at once. As soon as freed, the warrior 
is examined by the Medicine Chief, and if all is right, religious cere- 
monies are gone through with and his wounds are properly attended to. 
He is honored and sung. Should one, however, during this fearful 
ordeal, which has been known to last several days, show any sign of 
weakness, he is sent away a disgraced man. 

BURIAL PLACES. 

Indian tribes who live in somewhat permanent villages select reg- 
ular burial grounds, often placing the corpse upon a scaffold which is 
roofed over with a frame work covered with skins. If the body is that 
of a warrior, it is dressed in the most gorgeous apparel, and hanging from 
his neck is his medicine bag. His weapons are by his side and his 
totem bag is tied to his lance or rifle. At his girdle, or on his lance 
or shield, are hung all the scalps he has taken in life. Pots, kettles and 
other utensils which he will need in his spirit journey are fastened to 
the platform outside, and over all are hung streamers of red and white 
cloth to frighten away beasts and birds of prey. 



CIVILIZED AND SEMI-CIVILIZED. 479 

Caves and the forks of trees are favorite burial places for wander- 
ing tribes. Women and female children of common people are put out 
of^'sight with as little ceremony as scalped warriors, or those who die 
except in the fight. Indians near the agencies frequently use for cof- 
fins the boxes which are sent to them filled with soap orcrackers. 

The burial customs of nearly all the Western tribes, except the 
Utes, have been quite carefully investigated by travelers and army 
officers. After the burial of one of their number, these Indians care- 
fully erase every footprint which may lead to a discovery of the place of 
interment. Although several army officers were present at the funeral 
of Ouray, the great Ute chieftain, they were ordered back when they 
attempted to accompany the body to the grave. The corpse was wrapped 
in a blanket thrown across a horse and taken away. When, a few 
weeks later, it was removed to Ouray's own country, the officers managed 
to be taken along by the Indians and found the body in a natural 
cave which had been walled up with rocks. Another. Ute grave, 
discovered by accident, was found in a hill, lined with stone walls. 

CIVILIZED AND SEMI-CIVILIZED. 

The Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, all 
Southern tribes who previous to the war held slaves and were in arms 
against the United States Government, constitute now the Five Nations 
of the Indian Territory. They had previously developed quite a com- 
plete system of self-government, and generally retained their old con- 
stitutions -when they were removed to the Indian Territory after the war. 

THE CHEROKEES. 

The Cherokees have their peculiarities of language and organiza- 
tion which entitle them to be considered a distinct family. They for- 
merly occupied portions of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia and Alabama in the valleys of the Allegheny Mountains, the 
Upper Tennessee and the headwaters of the Savannah and Flint 
Rivers. They consist of seven clans, and members of the same clan 
are forbidden to marry. They fought with the English against the 
French with such effect that Louisiana made great efforts to obtain 
their friendship. 

With the capture of slaves, in their wars, the Cherokees com- 
menced to give more attention to the cultivation of land and less to 
war. The nation divided, a portion crossing the Mississippi and the 
balance remaining on their own lands. They were aided by the United 



480 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

States Government, which furnished them with agricultural implements 
and mills. As the white population clamored for their lands, however, 
they gradually ceded them to the Government until they were in pos- 
session of but a mountainous tract of 8,000 square miles in the States 
of Georgia and North Carolina. Gradually they were crowded out of 
these States and removed to the Indian Territory. 

Different factions of the eastern and western divisions prevented a 
union of the nation until 1839, but by the commencement of the war 
it was very prosperous. Printing presses were at work, turning off 
newspapers and books both in English and Cherokee ; grain, cotton, 
salt, cattle and horses were all elements of their wealth. At the break- 
ing out of the civil war the nation's warriors, who numbered over 
15,000, divided their allegiance, and their territory was ravaged by both 
armies. The slaves of the Cherokees were, of course, emancipated, 
but they themselves gained in habits of industry. 

Their territory now comprises about 5,000,000 acres, two-thirds of 
which is unfit for cultivation. The chief of the nation is elected for 
four years. The country is divided into eight districts, and the citizens 
are governed by a National Committee and Council, elected for two 
years. The Cherokees lead the five nations in the cultivation of wheat, 
corn and oats. They have neat villages, schools, churches and public 
buildings, and are a noteworthy evidence of Indian civilization. 

CREEKS AND SEMINOLES. 

The Creeks are allied to the Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, 
and occupied a territory which \Vas bounded on the north by that of the 
Cherokees, but stretched south into Florida. Not being able to trace 
their origin beyond a certain point, they claim to have sprung from the 
earth and emigrated from the northwest. They settled principally along 
the streams of Georgia and Florida, where they were found by the 
English and called Creeks. 

Two bands of the Creeks who remained in Florida and intermarried 
with negroes and Spaniards form the Seminole Indians, The Creeks 
called them Seminoles, or Wanderers, and it was the latter's refusal to 
be bound by a treaty made by the Creek nation with the United States 
which precipitated the war in Florida which was so disastrous both to 
them and to the United States. The Creeks were divided into a num- 
ber of distrinct tribes, including the Alabamas and Natchez, who figured 
for years in Southern troubles, but fifty years ago the Government 
succeeded in removing, all but a few hundred, to Arkansas. The civil 
war split them asunder as it did the Cherokees, and they suffered severely. 



CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAVVS. 481 

After the war both sections were removea to their reservation. Their 
form of government is not so republican as that of the Cherokees 
retaining more of the tribal features. 

Notwithstanding all efforts to consolidate them, the Seminoles have 
retained their individuality and form one of the most progressive of the 
nations. They have missions and district schools, are steady and 
industrious. 

CHOCTAWS AND CHICKASAWS. 

The Choctaws and Chickasaws speak the same language and have 
a tradition that they came with the Creeks from west of the Mississippi. 
The Cnoctaws attained iviore to the dignity of a nation, for, with their 
allied tribes, they formerly occupied nearly all the coast territory from 
the Mississippi to the Atlantic. When the French first came among 
them they were in the habit of flattening the heads of their children 
with bags of sand, and therefore became known as Flatheads. They 
were allies of the French, and did splendid service for them against the 
Natchez, Chickasaws and other hostile tribes. The State of Georgia 
offered them the rights of citizenship, but they preferred to cede their 
lands and move with the Chickasaws to Arkansas. 

They were already a nation, in fact, as in name, and are still governed 
by a written constitution, substantially adopted in 1838. They are 
governed by a chief elected for a term of four years, by a National 
Council and a regular judiciary. Trial by jury is also a feature of their 
government. Besides exhibiting other evidences of the white man's 
civilization, the Choctaws comprise a distinguished member of the Five 
nations as being the principal lumbermen of the group. 

The Chickasaws at first formed a part of the Choctaw nation, but, 
subsequently organized a government of their own, consisting of a 
Ciovernor, Senate and House of Representatives. The Chickasaw 
nation embraces a decided negro element ; for instead of giving up a 
proportion of their lands to the Government, the proceeds of which were 
to go to their former slaves, the nation adopted them into their tribe. 

The curious products, and manufactures collected not only from the 
tribes of the Indian Territory, but from the Pueblos of New Mexico — 
who, from the earliest of times, have lived in their great mud houses or 
fortresses — these form a department of our World's Fair of much inter- 
est. It enforces the truth — especially to strangers — that even the 
Indians of North America are not all savages. 




VOYAGING ON THE COLUMBIA. 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 




FIGURATIVE AND REAL. 

P to this point the discoverers of America have been intro- 
duced, both ancient and modern. The great nations which 
will take the most prominent part in the Columbian Exposi- 
tion have also been brought forward. The natives whom 
Columbus and his successors found in possession of the soil of 
the Americas — some of them warring savages, others con- 
solidated nations, well advanced in art and government — have just been 
presented. 

Undoubtedly, the most prodigious result of the Columbian discov- 
eries is the United States of America, and its grand center and the heart 
of the great Columbian Exposition is the government of the United 
States. No one should therefore forget for a moment that the Republic, 
as a government, is Anglo-Saxon. A charter was never granted to a 
colony in America, from that of Virginia in 1606 to that of Georgia in 
1732, which did not stipulate that the laws should conform, as nearly as 
possible, to those of Great Britain. Yet it is a common delusion that 
our constitution, armed with justice and power, sprung instantly from the 
brain of American statesmen. It was, in reality, a growth — a slow, a 
weary, a painful growth. The wonder should be not at its final vigor^ 
but that the birth should have been so long delayed, and, although we 
cut ourselves clear from all entangling alliances with England — whether 
statutory or otherwise — that the spirit of the English laws, the jewels of 
the English constitution, purified and brightened, should have been made 
to do such splendid service for another people and another land. But in 
this parallelism, which even the Declaration of Independence did not 
disturb, lies the hope of the future union of all English-speaking races. 
But although each colonial charter stipulated that American laws 
were to conform, as nearly as possible, to those of Great Britain, the 
modifying clause covered the loop hole through which much democ- 
racy found a way into our constitution. The first of the charters — that 

483 



484 THE world's fair. 

granted to Raleigh — provided for the estabHshment of a virtual mon- 
archy in Virginia, the head of the colony being the creator of its laws. 

In the founding of the Plymouth Colony, however, there was a partial 
severance of the close tie which bound the colonial laws to the English 
constitution. In fact, for over seventy years Plymouth existed without a 
royal charter. It finally obtained its lands from the New England Com- 
pany; but the colonists were authorized to make no laws, and the Pilgrims 
had no right to land where they did. In a word, it was held by 
some that they were bound by nothing, and they threatened to do as 
they pleased the moment they landed. As one of the pilgrims says: 
" Some of the strangers had let fall in the ship that when they came 
ashore they would use their own liberty, for none had power to command 
them; the patent they had being for Virginia and not for New England — 
which belonged to another government, with which the Virginia Com- 
pany^ had nothing to do." It was evident that something must be done, 
and done quickly. So, as the ship rounded Cape Cod and anchored in 
the harbor, the following compact was drawn up and signed by those who 
were the recognized leaders in the enterprise: "In the name of God, 
amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our 
dread sovereign lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, 
France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having under- 
taken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and 
honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the 
northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, 
in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine our- 
selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and pres- 
ervation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to 
enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, 
constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most 
meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, under which 
we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we 
have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod the nth of Novem- 
ber, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord King James, of 
England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty- 
fourth. Anno Dom. 1620." 

It was from Plymouth Rock, from Massachusetts Bay^ from Rhode 
Island and Connecticut, in fact, that the earliest forms of democracy issued, 
and not from such colonies as Virginia and Maryland. They were to 
come nobly forward, in the promulgation and vindication of popular 
principles, at a later day. It is, therefore, no carelessly grounded send- 



FIGURATIVE AND REAL. 



485 



ment which has generally seized upon the hearts of Americans — that of 
fixing upon the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers as the real birth of 
America. 

The Revolutionary War, which removed many restrictions upon the 
material growth of the country, gave birth to the United States as an 
industrial nation. Forges and rolling mills sprung up in Pennsylvania 
and New York. Somewhat later came the banks and insurance compa- 
nies of Philadelphia, and Webster's first American school books. Whit- 
ney, the Massachusetts school teacher, went down into Georgia and 
( 1 793) invented the cotton gin. During the same year Thomas Jefferson 




MONUMENT AT PLYM( III 
THE ROCK UPON W 
PILGRIMS LANE 



became the father of the modern plow, although he obtained no patent 
for his mould-board which so neatly turned the soil of his Virginia farm. 
Several years later the first regular cast-iron plows were patented, and 
were made in New Jersey. In 1789 appeared the cotton and woolen 
factories of Massachusetts and Connecticut, which were the pioneers of 
their kind in America. 

When the United States entered the nineteenth century, her indus- 
tries and inventions made her simplv a wonder-land. Think of the list! 



486 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

In 1803, Hoe brought out his steam printing press, and was, for years, 
the peer of any European manufacturer, Fukon, in 1807, made the first 
steamboat in the world which really "went." Pins were first manufac- 
tured in England (1824), being turned out by an American machine. 
An American first suggested the locomotive, the idea was adopted by 
England and an engine put on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad 
in 1829, and in 1830 the first locomotive built in this country was made 
at Peter Cooper's iron works, near Baltimore. American mowing ma- 
chines, reapers and steam plows fell into line with the English inventions, 
in the early 30's. The first successful reaping machine (1833) was 
purely an American invention, the famous McCormick reapers being 
patented in 1834. The first submarine cable in the world was put in 
operation (1842) by Prof. Morse, in New York harbor; the same brilliant 
and patient genius, in 1844, sent the first message over a regular tele- 
graph line (from Washington to Baltimore); and the father of practical 
telegraphy was also the originator of the transatlantic cable, first laid 
in 1858. The modern propeller is, beyond dispute, an American inven- 
tion of 1 84 1. The Howe (patented 1846) was the first sewing machine 
to approach the domestic wonder of the present. From 1860-62, the 
Ericsson Monitor, the Parrott gun, the Spencer rifle, the Galling gun, 
etc., added to our fame in a new direction, and from 1868 on, the type- 
writer, telephone, phonograph and other inventions have maintained the 
reputation of Americans as the foremost of inventors. The exhibit by 
the Patent Office will be as interesting as any to be made at the World's 
Fair. 

These running remarks take no account of the educational, the 
charitable, the reformatory and the religious institutions, which flourished 
in the colonies and have been growing ever since. They do not touch 
the various phases of art — art which scarcely lived in this country before 
the Revolutionary War, The intent was to place a few landmarks along 
the pathway of our material progress. The Columbian Exposition will 
prove that Americans are lovers of art and the higher life, and artists 
and doers as well; but its main purpose, after all, is to show to the world 
what we have done for it and ourselves in producing useful things— in 
making our mark as practical people, awake to every human want, and 
anxious not only to get ahead ourselves but to improve the nations by 
supplying them with comforts and conveniences. 




FATHERS OF OUR WORLD'S FAIR, 




THE VERY OLDEST. 

'AIRS date from the earliest times; world's fairs only from 
1851. The earliest fairs were for barter and sale; the later 
ones for purposes of exhibition merely. 

There are records of Greek and Roman fairs before the time 
of Christ, but the records are, of course, incomplete. Games 
were features of the fairs, although the main object for which 
they were established was to bring buyers and sellers together under 
the most favorable auspices — in other words, to create a market for 
goods. Means of transportation were limited, and in consequence it was 
hard for the buyer to go to the seller, and vice versa. Matters were 
simplified, and both parties benefited by locating the fair on a grand cen- 
tral market-place, to which, at specified times, the merchant could come 
with his goods and the purchaser with his money. The purchaser had 
much to choose from, and the merchant had many buyers of his wares. 
To add to the enjoyment of the occasion, the time of the fair was 
made a holiday and all kinds of entertainment were provided. Every- 
thing possible was done to attract great crowds, and in this way to 
stimulate trade. Furthermore, arrangements were made for the prompt 
settlement of all disputes arising on the grounds. Was there a differ- 
ence between buyer and seller? No need to put the case on the already 
crowded docket of the Roman Circuit Court, or whatever its prototype 
may have been; a special court was provided to promptly settle the 
matter on the spot. It is probable that these courts also had much to 
do with the settling of disputes over bets made on the games; but con- 
cerning that, history is discreetly silent. 

From these fairs the World's Columbian Exposition is directly 
descended, and it is not as difficult to trace the descent as one might 
suppose. They spread all over Europe and Asia, and it was an unim- 
portant place indeed that did not have a fair at least once a year, to 
which came all the merchants from the surrounding country. The larger 

487 



488 THE WORLD S FAIR. 

the city the greater the display and the more important the fair. The 
great fair at Mecca was perhaps one of the most important in early days. 

In France, an annual fair was started in 629 by Dagobert. It was 
held at St. Denis, and for 1,160 years never missed a year. That is a 
record that has never been beaten in the way of annual fairs. So sue 
cessful was this that in the year 800 fairs were established at Troyes and 
Aix la Chapelle and continued for several centuries. Guibray fell into 
line in 1 100, and Beaucaire in 1300. These fairs became larger and 
more important, and finally began securing exhibits from foreign nations — 
in fact, they began to touch pretty closely on what we consider world's 
fairs at the present time. As transportation facilities increased, the 
barter and sale feature became less pronounced, and the exhibitive feature 
more so. 

It was in 1800 that Paris began to have her fairs, and she has prob- 
ably done more than any other one city toward perfecting them. Napo- 
leon took hold of them in 1802, and after that year they were held tri- 
ennially. In 1844, Paris decided to hold a fair that should be a real 
world's institution — one to which all nations should be invited — but 
London forestalled her. 

The first fairs of England, by the way, were of a religious nature, 
and were almost invariably held on church property. Alfred the Great 
inaugurated one in 886, and it was continued for a number of years. 
The Priory of St, Bartholomew started one in 1133, and continued it till 
1855. The Donnybrook fair of Ireland is well known even to this day. 
Its exhibit of shillalies is said to have been a remarkably good one. 
Other fairs were held at Norwich, Weyhill, Ipswich and Ballinasloe, and 
were continued up to the time of the great fair of 1851 . 

Germany also had a great many fairs in early times, although 
France and England both lead it. Leipsic began a series about the year 
I 200, and Frankfort-on-the-Main and Brunswick promptly fell in line. 
Holland, Russia, China and Japan all did their share in the way of fairs, 
but the records of them — particularly in the last two countries — are very 
incomplete. The time that Holland's fairs were open was made a public 
holiday, and the same was true of Russia. Two were held at Nijni- 
Novgorod each year — one in the summer and one in the winter. The lat- 
ter was held on the ice. Little is known of the fairs of China and Japan. 

Nearly all of these fairs grew in size and importance until London 
and Paris started in simultaneously on a grand scale in 1844. London 
got a trifle the start, and after postponing the exhibition once or twice, 
finally held it in 185 1. 



THE FIRST REAL WORLD'S FAIR. 489 



THE FIRST REAL WORLD'S FAIR. 

The London Fair of 1S51 was the first really modern and universal 
exhibition — the first to be world-wide in its conception and execution. 
The nobility of the enterprise was worthy of the cultivated mind and the 
large soul of the Christian Prince Albert, and was a notice to the world 
that the era of peace between nations had at last been conceived by a 
powerful ruler of men. 

Prince Albert of England, then, was the father of the modern 
world's fair, which was born in this wise: In the spring of 1849, before 
the Society of Arts, he outlined the plan of a great industrial exhibition 
of all nations, to take place in 1851, dwelling with fervor upon the happy 
results to be anticipated from such an enterprise. In July following, the 
Prince, in the name of the Society which now espoused the cause, applied 
to the government for the appointment of a royal commission to organ- 
ize and manage such an exhibition. Great meetings were held at the 
Mansion House and elsewhere to arouse public interest, and, early in 
1850, the commission was appointed, with Prince Albert at its head. A 
very large guarantee fund was promptly subscribed, the consent of the 
crown for holding the exhibition in Hyde Park obtained, and, in Sep- 
tember following, with less than eight months' time for work, the build- 
ing of the original Crystal Palace of the world was commenced. Two 
thousand workmen were engaged, however, and rapid progress was 
made. The colossal building, over a third of a mile in length, covering 
nineteen acres — more than seven times the ground area of St. Paul's 
Cathedral — was, in good time, turned over to the Royal Commission, 
Punctually, on May i, 185 1, the Crystal Palace Exhibition was opened by 
the Queen in person. Prince Albert in an address explaining the purposes 
of the undertaking, and many of the nobility, including the Duke of 
Wellington, Lord Palmerston, the Marquis of Anglesea and others, 
taking part in the ceremonials. 

Hyde Park, the site of the first World's Fair, originally laid out by 
Henry VIII., and for many generations one of the most frequented re- 
sorts of London, has been made famous as the scene both of state 
pageantries and military reviews and popular demonstrations. It is the 
rendezvous both of aristocrat and plebeian. Its location is midway be- 
tween Charing Cross, or the center of London, and its western outskirts. 
The park is one of the pleasant gardens of England, covering 390 
acres and blending the splendors of noble fountains, statuary, arches and 



WORLD'S FAIR, NEW YORK, 1 853. 49 1 

monuments with the purer beauty of wide lawns, vast beds of flowers 
and rows of majestic trees. In its immediate vicinity are the houses of 
such celebrities as the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Cambridge and 
Baron Rothschild. Kensington Gardens, Kensington Palace and Hol- 
land House are also close at hand. Its drives are the most noted in the 
world, the site being favored with such wide and easy approaches from 
central London that, of the estimated 6,000,000 visitors to the Fair, 
nearly ten per cent, of the attendance was by private conveyance. 

The total number of exhibitors was 13,937, England contributing 
6,861, her colonies 520, the United States 499, Persia 12, China 30, 
Greece 36, Denmark 39, France, Germany and the other European 
countries furnishing the remainder. The classification was simple and 
consisted of four great sections — raw material and produce, machinery, 
manufactures and fine arts. The awards were a Medal of Honor, a Prize 
Medal and a certificate of Honorable Mention, the United States re- 
ceiving 160 awards, including 102 prize medals. A special feature of 
the exhibit consisted of the American buggies and coaches, pianos, reap- 
ing machines and rubber goods. The most conspicuous feature in the 
very meager department of arts was Powers' Greek Slave. 

The estimated value of exhibits was $9,000,000. The gate receipts 
were $(,780,000, to which enough was added from sale of space and 
privileges to return a profit of 1930,000 to the managers, after deducting 
$965,000 (cost of structure) and #716,000 (operating expenses). During 
the six months of the exhibition $20,000,000 was added to the wealth of 
London. Thus the first World's Fair, while entirely experimental, was 
a financial success, and entirely creditable to the public spirit of the 
British nation. 

WORLD'S FAIR, NEW YORK, 1853. 

One important and immediate effect of the London Fair was to 
stimulate the nations of both hemispheres to efforts in a similar direc- 
tion. Within eight years' time the ambitious capitals of the world had 
given either world's fairs or special expositions on a new scale of mag- 
nificence. Dublin came first in 1853, with what proved a failure as an 
international effort, but which brought out the finest collection of paint- 
ings ever before presented to the public. New York followed, the same 
year, with her "Exhibition of the Industries of All Nations;" Paris com- 
ing forward in 1855 with her brilliant and pretentious show, a year behind 
Melbourne, with her palace of glass, and Munich, with her 7,000 ex- 



492 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

hibitors who were scattered by the approach of cholera. Manchester 
fell into line with her World's Fair of Art, in 1857, preceded by Brussels 
and her gorgeous "Industrial Celebration" — Lausanne, Turin and Hano- 
ver joining the procession at various intervals from 1857 to 1859. 

The first international exhibition, after that of London, to command 
the recognition of the world was that held at New York in 1853. The 
magnitude of such an undertaking does not appear to have been fully 
realized at that early day, the Fair Association having an original capital 
of but #200,000, the only addition to that fund being secured by subscrip- 
tions to stock through the banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Co. 

The site selected was several acres of ground corner Sixth avenue 
and Forty-second street, lying about two miles north of the outer resi- 
dence district. It was central to the main railways, and near the banks 
of the Hudson River The work of construction was commenced late 
in August, 1852, and, with its annex, the two-story main building cov- 
ered an area of six acres. It was designed in the Moorish style of 
architecture, composed entirely of ^vood, iron and glass, and, out of 
courtesy to the architects rather than from fidelity to art or truth, has 
ever since been known to fame as the New York "Crystal Palace." It 
was formally opened to the world on July 14, 1853 — President Pierce, 
Gen. Winfield Scott, Jefferson Davis (then Secretary of War), Caleb 
Cushing, Governor Seymour, of New York, and many other eminent 
personages, both Americans and foreigners, being present. The build- 
ing, less in size than a first-class dry goods store, and less ornate than a 
first-class passenger depot, was yet in an unfinished condition; but the 
exhibition proceeded without embarrassment and with 4,100 exhibitors — 
a litde less than one-half of whom were composed of American manu- 
facturers, merchants, inventors and artists. England, with her dignified 
generosity, and France, true to her splendid instinct of international 
courtesy, contributed the main line of exhibits from abroad. The classi- 
fication of articles was the same as at London — raw materials, machinery, 
manufactures and fine arts. The latter formed an important feature of 
the exposition and occupied the entire gallery of the second building or 
annex. Owing to the multiplicity of American manufactures, the ex- 
hibits took a very wide range, with farm implements, machinery, wagons 
and carriages, pianos and organs, printing presses, leather, iron and 
rubber goods and cotton fabrics as the prominent features. England 
sent liberally of her cutlery, woolen fabrics and articles of utility; France 
contributing abundantly of her silks and broadcloths, wines, perfumeries, 



world's fair PARIS, 1855. 493 

pictures and ornaments; Switzerland of clocks and music-boxes; and 
Germany of musical instruments and cheese. 

Financially, the New York World's Fair was not a success, the total 
attendance being estimated at 1,500,000, and receipts from all sources 
at $340,000. The cost of building and other expenses amounted to 
$640,000, a loss of $300,000 being thus entailed upon the stockholders. 

Horace Greeley, a director in the undertaking, was arrested while 
in Paris and confined in Clichy prison, at the suit of a French exhibitor 
whose property was alleged to have been damaged by the reckless hand- 
ling of the proverbial American "baggage smasher." Otherwise, the 
World's Fair, New York, 1853, was without historic incident. 

WORLD'S FAIR, PARIS, 1855. 

The city of Paris has now given the world a series of four brilliant 
and successful international exhibitions, beginning with the memorable 
event of 1855 and culminating, in 1889, in one of the most splendid 
triumphs of the modern world and of all civil history. There are many 
reasons why Paris should have put forth earnest and repeated endeavor 
to win fame as a world's fair city. In the first place, sentiment has ever 
been a most potent factor in all French enterprises. And there can be 
no doubt that the laurels of success^ the glories of a great civil triumph 
won by England in her initial London effort, exerted a powerful and per- 
manent influence in awakening the fiery ambition of Paris and of France — 
an ambition that accounts for that constant renewal of exertion from 
1885 to 1889. 

The World's Fair of Paris, 1855, was the conception of a commercial 
association, which, after securing the Champs Elysees as the site, began 
the erection of the proper buildings. Emperor Napoleon, however, 
with the support of the government, assumed the management, taking 
all risks, guaranteeing the company a percentage of profits, and contrib- 
uting $2,750,000 to the building fund. Imperial Commissioners, ap- 
pointed by the Emperor, with Prince Napoleon at their head, constituted 
the board of responsibility, direction and control. The exhibition, for 
the first time thus far in World's Fair history, was held in separate de- 
partment buildings — the Palace of Industry, Machinery Hall and Palace 
of Fine Arts, the latter being located at quite a distance from the other 
two. The total space occupied by these structures was 1,866,000 square 
feet, the approaches and open spaces subsidiary to the exhibition making 
about forty acres. 



494 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Champs Elysees, the site of the first great Paris fair, is a wide 
oblong plain and promenade, on the northeast bank of the Seine, adja- 
cent, on the east^ to the great centers of Paris and near to the palaces 
of the Tuileries and the Louvre. It is called the Elysian Fields in clear 
irony, for it has hardly the Elysian sweetness or color of one blade of 
grass, or one red rose, or one green leaf, to temper the pale clay of its 
wide expanse, every square foot of which has been hammered and flat- 
tened into adamant by the tramp of a hundred million human feet. It 
was elected as a World's Fair site, apparently, because it was the univer- 
sal promenade of Paris, afforded ample room, and was easy of access to 
the body of the people. 

The total number of exhibitors on this occasion was 23,954, divided 
almost evenly between France and outside countries, and exceeding the 
number at London in 1851 by 10,017. The attendance numbered 5,1 62,- 
330, the largest one day's attendance being on Sunday, Sept. 9 (123,017 
persons). The total cost of the exhibition was $5,000,000, the main 
item being the Palace of Industry, $2,750,000, a permanent structure, 
a noble monument of the great event, and now among the distinctive 
attractions of the city. The total receipts were $644,100, showing a loss 
of over $4,000,000 to the government, though $30,000,000 are estimated 
to have been expended in Paris by visitors. The classification of ex- 
hibits was in eight groups and thirty-one classes. Ten thousand five 
hundred and sixty-four awards were made. One grand medal of honor 
was awarded to C. H. McCormick, of Chicago. 

An important feature of this first Paris Fair was the interest taken 
in it by the English government and nation. The Queen, Prince Albert 
and the Prince of Wales were among the visitors, several thousand British 
workmen were sent over free of charge, and the British section of the 
fair was a more complete representation of the products of the United 
Kingdom than was that at London in 1851. The United States sent 
but 144 exhibitors. The fabrics of Europe were well represented, but 
the department which, by personal and official encouragement of the 
Emperor and Prince Napoleon, became the one of supreme interest and 
importance, such as to lend it prominence in all subsequent international 
fairs, was the department of fine arts. 

LONDON'S FAIR OF 1862. 

London's second international exhibition, the fourth in the great 
modern series, was opened on May i, 1862, and closed November 15. 
The original idea was to hold a decennial exhibition, which would have 



LONDON FAIR OF 1862. 495 

dated the event in i86t, but the national loss, in the death of Prince 
Albert, occasioned the postponement of a year, and dimmed the luster 
of the great event by forbidding the state pageantry that would other- 
wise have been incident to the opening. The site chosen was the Hor- 
ticultural Society's garden in South Kensington, on the elevated grounds 
between Hyde Park and Windsor Castle, and a mile distant from the 
site of 1851. The general environment of the point chosen was, in re- 
spect of historic landmarks and associations, of almost equal interest 
with the former location, being rich with scenes from the lives of Wilber- 
force, Sheridan, Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Holland and some of the later 
sovereigns of the British empire. Kensington Palace, originally known 
as Nottingham House, was purchased by William III,, in 1690, by whom 
large sums of money were expended in its improvement. The site is 
nearer the Thames, and with about the same approaches from London 
centers as those that accommodated the populace in 185 r. The main 
buildings of London's second World's Fair covered an area of over 
twenty-three acres, including two annexes east and west of the Horticul- 
tural Gardens. The area of space roofed in was nearly double that of 
the Crystal Palace, but its buildings, in point of architecture and deco- 
rative features, have never favorably compared with the earlier structure. 
The cost of buildings was 11,605,000, other expenses bringing the total 
cost of the exhibition to $2,300,000. The Duke of Cambridge presided 
at the opening, 30,000 people being present, including a few of the no- 
bility and many foreign guests and visitors, with the Japanese embassy 
in full court costume. A choir of 2,000 voices and an orchestra of 200 
musicians added to the pleasures of the entertainment. The enter- 
prise, conducted with the advantage of former experience, devel- 
oped many advantages. In addition to a reading room, a telegraph 
office, a money-order system and a bank, a postoffice was established, 
through which there passed, during the first six months, 21 1,500 letters. 
Among other new features were comfortable restaurants, to which 74,000 
square feet of space was allotted, and at which the sale of wines and 
malt liquors was not forbidden. 

The total of the receipts from all sources is given at $1,644,260, or 
less than total expenses by $655,740, thus showing the enterprise to have 
been a financial failure. The number of exhibitors was 28,653, or more 
than double the number in 1851, and included 2,305 artists. The total 
attendance was 6,211,000, with a daily average of 36,328 visitors, the 
largest number for one day being 67,891. 

There were no gradations of medals, the only two forms of award 



496 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

being the Medal and Honorable Mention. In all, 13,423 jury awards 
were rendered, the United States, with 128 exhibitors, securing 58 Med- 
als and 3 I Honorable Mentions. Beside the Department of Fine Arts, 
there were thirty-six classes of exhibits, the most important of which 
were those of machinery, carriages, furniture, musical instruments, me- 
chanics' tools, woolen and cotton fabrics, and general hardware. At the 
close of the exhibition, which seemed to have awakened less national 
enthusiasm and less of general interest throughout Europe than was an- 
ticipated, all of the buildings were torn down with the exception of the 
picture galleries, which have since been used for the National Portrait 
Exhibition. 

PARIS, 1867. 

The Second International Exhibition given by Paris — the fifth in the 
World's great series — was held in 1867. It was now more essentially a 
state undertaking than on the first occasion; but the idea, although 
originating with the Emperor, was in keeping with the manifest inclina- 
tion of the people. The site selected for this event, as for the subse- 
quent fairs of 1878 and 1889, was the Champs de Mars, a public square 
of 105 acres, on the opposite side of the Seine and a quarter of a mile 
farther northeast from Central Paris than the former location. The 
Champs de Mars was the scene of the Festival of Federation, preceding 
the French Revolution. It was the scene, too, of the last imperial cere- 
mony of the First Empire, June i, 18 15, when Napoleon entered in 
coronation state, drawn by eight white horses, to receive homage from 
assembled Paris. It was a fit site for a World's Fair, celebrated by the 
court of France and drawing such state guests as the Czar of Russia, the 
Sultan of Turkey, the Khedive of Egypt, Bismarck and the King of 
Prussia, the Prince of Wales and the Kings of Denmark, Portugal and 
Sweden. The main building of the Exposition presented the form of a 
grand architectural oval, 1,550x1,250 feet, covering eleven acres. The 
oval form was selected by Prince Napoleon with a view to facilitating 
and simplifying the arrangement of exhibits, by classes and countries, so 
that the visitor could follow a single class of products through every 
nation until he arrived again at his starting point; or, desiring informa- 
tion regarding a single nation, he could simply confine himself to that 
section of the elliptic. Smaller structures increased the area of buildings 
to 37 acres, with 52 acres of the island of Billancourt as an agricultural 
annex. The seventy remaining acres of the Champs de Mars were laid 
out in gardens and fountains, and covered with specimens of the archi- 



THE VIENNA WORLD's FAIR, 1 873. 497 

tecture of different nations — Turkish mosques, Russian slobodas, Swiss 
chalets, Tunisian kiosks, Swedish cottages, English light-houses, Egypt- 
ian temples, caravansaries, etc. The formal opening took place April i, 
the exhibition being open on Sundays. There were 50,226 exhibitors^ 
about twice the former number, the total attendance being 10,200,000 
and total receipts 12,103,675. The cost to the government, over and 
above that sum, is estimated at about $7,000,000, the compensation being 
found in the vast addition to the revenues of Paris. 

The exhibits were divided and sub-divided into a limited number of 
departments and classes, the French, Italian and German contributions 
in the fine arts, the English exhibit of her iron and steel industries, and 
the United States display of machinery and inventive appliances forming 
conspicuous features. The British government, in practical appreciation 
of this Exposition as a universal school of instruction, again sent over 
some thousands of English workmen, free of expense, and who, at a later 
date, made full reports on all branches of industry. The United States 
was represented by 536 exhibitors, a small number, but great in com- 
parison with the former occasions and sufficient to show a healthy growth 
of interest. The percentage of awards to this country exceeded that to 
any other nation excepting France. A notable incident of the close 
of this World's Fair was the meeting of official representatives of all the 
most prominent nations, and the promulgation of opinions bearing upon 
the management of future International Expositions; one of those opin- 
ions was that no prizes of any kind ought to be awarded, but that reports 
on every class of exhibits should be made and signed by an international 
jury. Another recommendation was that future exhibitions be held in 
rotation in various capitals. 

THE VIENNA WORLD'S FAIR, 1873. 

The idea of an International Exhibition at Vienna originated with 
the Board of Trade of that city, of which Baron Weitheimer was presi- 
dent. That wealthy body having raised the sum of $1,500,000 as a 
preliminary, the government, early in 1870, took an active part, advanced 
the sum of $3 000,000, named a commission of 300 from among leading 
officers of state and men of science and industry, and announced May i, 
1873, as the date of opening. All Europe became interested, each of the 
nations appointing a semi-royal commission to honor and encourage the 
enterprise, the commissioners including the leading statesmen, philoso- 
phers and industrial magnates of the old world. 



PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1 876. 499 

The Prater, a noble park three miles northeast from Central Vienna, 
near the banks of the Danube and the terminus of the Northern and 
Eastern railways, was selected as the site. The Prater is the Hyde Park 
of the Empire. It became the property of the imperial family in 1570 
and was opened as a public pleasure ground by Emperor Joseph II in 
1776, and for more than a century has been the resort of all Vienna. 
The actual exhibition area was 280 acres. The main building, a central 
nave 2,953x84 ft. and 74 ft. in height, with sixteen transepts, 573x54 ft., 
enclosed a central rotunda 354 ft. in diameter. The transepts were con- 
nected by facades and enclosed courts or gardens. Machinery hall, with 
nearly ten acres of tioorage, was the main feature. The art building to 
the east, 600x100 ft., included a grand corridor for statuary. The de- 
partment of agriculture, was confined to three vast frame buildings, 
covering about six acres. Exhibits were classified in twenty-six groups^ 
and followed the plan of London and Paris, There were seven forms of 
award: Diplomas of Honor, Medals for Progress, Honorable Mention, 
Medals of Merit, Medals for Good Taste, Fine Arts Medal and Medals 
awarded to workmen. There were 70,000 exhibitors, the 654 from the 
United States receiving 442 awards. The criticism usually applied to the 
Vienna Exhibition was that it was "too big." It was cumbersome, un- 
wieldy, elephantine and distracting. Edward Everett Hale said that it was 
a specimen of the world, but one would want a smaller museum for a spec- 
imen of the exhibition. Owing to the fact that living was made inordi- 
nately high in Vienna through the rapacity of hotels, lodging houses, 
restaurants, etc., attendance was comparatively meager — a total of 
3,492,622 in 186 days. The total receipts from all sources are estimated 
at about $1,750,000, so that, the official buildings having cost nearly 
#8,000,000 above operating expenses, the financial loss entailed was 
something stupendous. During the exposition, trials in agriculture took 
place in the vicinity, with 1,000 acres of harvest and other land, divided 
among reapers and mowers, steam plows and threshing and winnowing 
machines. 

PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1876. 

The patriotic conception of a second World's Fair for America — the 
seventh in the universal series — to be held in (876, in commemoration 
of the birth-day of American Independence, dated back fully ten years 
prior to that time, and soon found hundreds of thousands of advocates 
in public-spirited citizens in all sections of the country. At first the 



PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1 876. 50I 

project was discouraged by many leading men in public life, on the 
ground that the monarchical governments of Europe would hardly care 
to join us in celebrating the overthrow of kingly power. At length, 
however, the scheme grew in national favor and, in 187 1, Congress 
passed a bill providing for an international exhibition of arts, manufac- 
tures and products of the soil and mines, in the city of Philadelphia, and 
for the appointment of one commissioner from each state and territory 
to prepare a proper plan and put it in force. Later, in June, 1872, Con- 
gress passed another act, creating a Centennial Board of Finance, 
authorized to issue shares of $10 each, up to a sum not exceeding 
$10,000,000. Philadelphia made a donation of $50,000, afterward in- 
creased by $1,000,000, the state of Pennsylvania appropriated $1,500,000, 
and the government at length added a loan of $1,500,000, subsequently 
cancelling the debt. Popular subscriptions came in slowly, but in June 
1873, the governor of Pennsylvania informed President Grant that pro- 
vision had been made for buildings and, on July 3, following, a procla- 
tion issued for the opening of the exhibition on the 19th of April, 1876. 
The Secretary of State at once sent a note of the fact to foreign ministers 
at Washington, expressing the hope of His Excellency, the President, 
that their several governments might be pleased to notice the subject and 
bring it before the people of their several countries — which they did, 
three-fourths of the exhibitors at Philadelphia coming from foreign lands. 
Fairmount Park, three miles west of Philadelphia, comprising 450 lovely 
acres on the line of the Pennsylvania Central and near the Reading rail- 
way, was contributed as a site, and 236 acres were fenced in for buildings 
and general exhibition grounds. The main building covered an area of 
870,464 square feet; machinery hall, 504,720; art building 76,650 square 
feet of floor space and 88,869 of wall space; horticultural hall, 350x160 
feet; agricultural building, ( 17.760 square feet; women's department 
building, 208x208 feet. The United States appropriated $728,500 for a 
governmf^nt exhibit. England, after establishing its commission head- 
quarters at Philadelphia a year before opening, sent a collection of 
paintings valued at over $1,000,000, besides vast consignments of articles, 
representative of all her main industries. France, Germany, Russia, 
Spain, Italy — all the monarchies and republics at that time extant, from 
Mexico and Brazil to Siam, Siberia, China and Japan, attested their 
interest and good will by liberal contributions, with the result of 30,864 
exhibitors. The seven departments were: Mining and Metallurgy, 
Manufactures, Education and Science, Art, Machinery, Agriculture and 
Horticulture. The awards, rendered by a body of judges, half foreigners 



PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1 876. 



503 



and half Americans, numbered 13,104, of which number, 5,364 went to 
American exhibitors. The medals were bronze, four inches in diameter, 
being struck at the U. S. Mint. The chief of the Bureau of Awards was 
Gen. Francis A. Walker. 




AGRICULTURAL HALL, PHILADELPHIA, 1 8/6. 

The three miles of fence line inclosing the exhibition were provided 
with 1 06 entrance gates for visitors, beside 17 grand carriage and wagon 
entrances. The total number of visitors was 9,910,966. The largest 




HORTICULTURAL HALL, PHILADELPHIA, 1876. 

day was September 28, — Pennsylvania Day— when 274,919 visitors were 
admitted. The total gate receipts were ^3,813,724.49, the city of Phila- 
delphia being largely re-imbursed for losses by the enormous addition to 



504 THE world's fair, 

her monetary circulation. The two most prominent departments of the 
Centennial World's Fair were those of Agriculture and Manufactures, in 
which were represented, collectively, no less than 19,000 exhibitors. In 
Horticulture there were but 40 exhibitors. 

PARIS, 1878. 

The third of the Paris International Exhibitions — eighth in the 
modern series — was opened May i, 1878, on the Champs de Mars, 
and closed on the loth of October. It was entitled an "Exhibition of 
the Works of Art and Industry of all Nations," and was the first given 
in the Old World under the auspices of a republican government. The 
total area of ground covered by buildings was 100 acres, the main build- 
ing — the wonder of the time in sheer magnitude — occupying 54 acres. 
The French exhibits covered one-half of the entire space. Great Britain 
coming next and Austria -Hungary, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Switzerland 
and the United States following England, in relative importance as par- 
ticipants. The total number of exhibitors was 40,330, the United States 
sending 1,229, and being also well represented in its official commission. 
The total number of admissions was 16,032,725, and the average daily 
attendance for the 194 days was 82,650. The total receipts were 
$2,531,650, the government again sustaining an apparent loss of several 
million dollars, and again finding its balance in a profit of fully $15,000,000 
to the city of Paris. The line of exhibits, classification, etc., was nearly 
a repetition of the Paris fair of 1867. The display of fine arts and ma- 
chinery was upon a very large and comprehensive scale, and the Avenue 
of Nations, a street 2,400 feet in length, was occupied by specimens of 
the domestic architecture of every country in Europe and several in Asia, 
Africa and America. The Palace of the Trocadero, on the north bank 
of the Seine, was an imposing structure, with towers 250 feet in height 
flanked by two grand galleries. For the first time in the history of for- 
eign world's fairs, the United States had a separate building. Not less 
than two-thirds of the exhibitors from this country received awards. 

Following this Paris World's Fair of 1878, came those of Sydney, 
New South Wales, in 1879, and of Melbourne, Victoria, in 1881. 

PARIS, 1889. 

The subject of a fourth grand International Exhibition — the ninth in 
the world's modern series — was first broached in Paris six years before 
the actual event, the matter being unofficially considered by members of 



PARIS, 1889. 505 

the Corps Legislatif, in June 1883. Public agitation and discussion fol- 
lowed, and in November, 1887, M. Jules Grevy, President of the Republic, 
signed a decree that the Exhibition be opened on May 5, 1889, and 
closed October 30, following. The government, in alliance with a 
guarantee society, undertook the work of organization, the society guar- 
anteeing the state in the sum of $3,600,000. The board of control was 
composed of eight municipal councillors, seventeen senators, deputies 
and state representatives, and eighteen subscribers to the guarantee fund, 
while a consulting committee of three hundred persons appointed by the 
government, under title of the Grand Council, was divided into twenty- 
two sub-committees to watch over the various departments. The Champs 
de Mars was again selected as the main site of the exhibition, though a 
subsidiary space of some seventy acres now became necessary, the total 
area comprising 173 acres. The largest building was Machinery Palace, 
166 feet in height, covering eleven acres and costing $1,500,000. The 
Palace of Arts cost #[,350,000, and the Palace of the French Section 
$1,150,000, an additional #500,000 being expended on the parks and 
gardens. Among these annex spaces was interspersed a marvellous 
series of dwellings representing a street in Algiers, houses of New Cale- 
donia, an Indian dwelling, the Tunisian minaret, Turkish village, English 
dairies, Dutch bakeries, etc. 

The permanent Eiffel Tower was the principal attraction. This 
structure which cost $1,000,000, is 9S4 feet in height, its base forming a 
gigantic archway over a main avenue leading from the bridge to the cen- 
tral grounds. The tower was built entirely of iron girders and pillars, 
with four great shafts, of four columns each, rising from the four corners 
of the base and merging into the single shaft forming the main spire of 
the tower. This culminated in the great Alpine reception room, sur- 
mounted by a yet higher lantern, or observatory, the platform of which 
is 800 feet above the ground. The total weight was 15,000,000 pounds. 
Four elevators, their united capacity being three hundred passengers, 
carried visitors to the observatory and first platform. 

Organized on so grand a scale, the fourth Paris exhibition became 
the sensation of the civilized world. Seventy thousand visitors went 
over from the United States and three hundred and eighty thousand from 
England, the total attendance being 28,149,353, ^ daily average of 
137^289. The number of visitors on the closing day reached 400,000. 
The total attendance was nearly three times that of the American Cen- 
tennial of 1876, and four times that of the London Fair of 1851. 

Eight hundred policemen, under four chiefs, four brigadiers and 



PARIS, I«S9. 507 

fifty-two sub-brigadiers, were required for day duty on the grounds, and 
a proportionate force for the night service; yet but one hundred and 
ninety-eight arrests were made during the entire period of the exhibition, 
including just one American criminal. Who that American was, history 
sayeth not. At all events, he has been made ignobly prominent. 

The number of exhibitors was 55,000, 1,750 being from the United 
States. The awards were of five degrees and in five forms: Grand 
Prize, Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Bronze Medal and Honorable Mention, 
941 awards being made to American exhibitors. 

The expenses of the exhibition were about #8,000,000 and the re- 
ceipts nearly $10,000,000, showing for the first time in Paris direct 
financial returns on the investment. The item of expense chargeable to. 
buildings and grounds was a little less than $6,000,000. 

The effect of the great international event on the finances of Paris 
was shown in the increase of bank balances, and of railroad, theatre, 
hotel and store receipts. The best estimates indicate the addition to 
the circulating capital of the city of nearly $350,000,000. 

The range and variety of exhibits was the widest, largest and most 
thoroughly representative of all the different forms of human industry 
ever gathered. It seemed to completely epitomize the commerce, the 
invention, the organized labor and the art treasures of Christendom. 
To have taken in the entire exhibition would have required a walk of 
fifteen miles, and months of observation were necessary to an apprecia- 
tive review of its attractions and treasures. Details were such as to defy 
even approximate enumeration, and it is safe to say that there was not a 
visitor to Paris, nor even an officer of the company, who saw the show 
in its entirety. There was no great change from the previous plan of 
classification, but every separate department had, in itself, the dignity, 
the completeness and the splendor of a special international exhibition. 
The department of greatest interest to the industrial world was that as- 
signed to the Machinery Palace, while the departments of fine arts, of 
education, of agriculture, of electricity, of minerals and of general in- 
dustry, were all of a degree of prominence that rendered comparison 
difficult. All the shining merchandise of all the capitals of Europe; all 
the mechanical appliances born of American inventive skill; all the pro- 
ducts of the looms, the shops, the factories and the foundries of England, 
Germany, Spain, Portugal and Russia; all the oriental bric-a-brac and 
decorative notions of China and Japan; all the treasures and splendors, 
of all the galleries and studios of France and Italy were there in full 
representation of the taste, the ingenuity and the labors of mankind. 




GRAND ENTRANCE, PARIS, 1 889. 



PARIS, I««9. 509 

For purposes of comparison, the American Exposition of 1893 will 
be placed against this superb triumph of French industry, power of 
organization and artistic genius; and that fact is one of the keenest of 
the incentives which have pushed on our World's Fair to a high standard 
of success — which are proving that the Americans are an artistic people, 
as well as a practical, thriving race. 

Also for purposes of comparison as to what has been done, statis- 
tically speaking, by the previous world's fairs, the following table is 
presented, some of its items having already been given: 



WHERE HELD. Year. 

1 


Acres 
Occu- 
pied by 


No. of 
Exhibitors. 


No. of 
Admissions. 


Bill 


Averafre 
Attend- 
ance. 


Receipts. 




1851 
1853 
1855 
1862 

1867 

1873 
1876 
1878 
1889 


21 

6 

24^ 

37 

40 

60 

100 


13.937 
4,100 

23.954 
28,653 
50,226 
70,000 
30,864 
40,366 
55,000 


6,039,195 
1,500,000 
5,162,330 
6,211,103 
10,200,000 
3,492,622 
9,910,966 
16,032,725 
28,149.353 


144 


41.938 


$1,780,000 
340,000 
644,100 
1,644,260 
2.103,67s 
1,750,000 
3.813.724 
2.531.650 
8,300,000 


New York 


Paris 


200 
171 
117 
186 
150 
194 
183 


25,811 
36,328 
47.470 
39.003 
62,333 
82,650 
137,289 


London 

Paris 


Philadelphia ... . 


Paris 


Paris 





But although these figures tell a story of their own, there is a 
broader side of the matter which has been only partially presented. It 
is not the receipts at the gates of the Fair, compared to the expenditures 
upon grounds, buildings, exhibits and management, which determine 
the success of the enterprise. The hundreds of thousands of strangers 
who visit the World's Fair City come with money to spend, and spend 
it. All lines of business take a bound. The city presents a bright face 
to the World, makes everyone welcome, and is on its good behavior. 
The Fair not only brings an added circulation of money, but a permanent 
increase of population from those who are seeking new and pleasant 
homes. These are successes outside of the gate receipts. 

The World's Fair also serves to exhibit the comparative standing of 
the nations in special lines — in the arts, manufactures, products of the 
soil, etc. — and illustrates the advantages which would accrue from a 
universal division of labor among the states of the universe, should they 
ever be able to forget their old feuds and compete only in the industrial 
and commercial arenas. The great statesmen, the great military leaders, 
the great financiers and merchants, the philanthropists, the poets, the 
practical and the ideal of all lands, are thrown together with the ex« 



5IO 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



pressed intention of giving out the best they have. The great find that 
there are other great ones — and it does neither man nor country harm 
to know the fact. The World's Fair, if generously patronized, is the 
grand wrecker of egotism. So that, although narrowly guaged it may 
be a financial failure, the effects upon the World's Fair City, the Nation 
and the World are of untold value. 



HISTORY OF OUR WORLD'S FAIR. 




GERM AND YOUNG SHOOTS. 

P'HE fact that the nineteenth century — the most progressive as 
well as the most pregnant in stupendous advances in science 
and civilization since the beginning of the Christian era — was 
rapidly drawing to a close, naturally suggested to the Govern- 
ment of the United States the appropriateness of commemo- 
rating, during its crowning decade, an event of such importance 
in the world's history that in comparison with it the achievements of 
military heroes sink into insignificance. The discovery of the Western 
Hemisphere has served to transform the world, not only in its outward 
seeming but even in its domestic^ social and political life. It seemed 
fitting that the country which had given a new impetus to the propaga- 
tion of faith in a universal brotherhood should invite to its shores the 
nations of the world to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the 
discovery of the land over which it reigns mistress. To celebrate this 
discovery by a man who was at once thinker, enthusiast and martyr, con- 
stitutes a fitting climax to four centuries of human progress, of emanci- 
pation of thought and of acquisitiou of a broader and deeper knowledge. 
It was in reflections such as these that the idea of the World's Columbian 
Exposition found at once its germination and development. 

The conception of celebrating so great an event through an inter- 
national exhibition, where might be afforded a view of the comparative 
progress made by the countries of the earth in art, science and manufac- 
ture, no less than in the cultivation of the soil, was first agitated in 
Chicago. To George Mason, Esq., of that city, belongs the honor of 
originating, as early as November, 1885, at a meeting of the directory 
of the Inter- State Exposition Company (of which body he was a mem- 
ber), resolutions looking to the inauguration of such a colossal project. 
The expediency and feasibility of the enterprise was subsequently 
■discussed at a private meeting of representative citizens selected from the 

5" 



512 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



leading clubs of Chicago, and a pronounced sentiment in its favor found 
almost unanimous expression. 

The following year — 1886 — the same idea found lodgment in the 
minds of public-spirited men in Eastern States. A Board of Promotion 
was organized, with a view to securing Congressional action in this 
direction. Ex-Governor Claflin, of Massachusetts, was made President, 




LYMAN J. GAGE, 

First President World's Fair Directors. 

and he at once took steps to bring about national legislation. On July 
31, of that year, Senator George F. Hoar introduced a resolution for the 
appointment of a joint Congressional committee of fourteen to consider 
the advisability and practicability of such an undertaking. The committee 
was appointed, met and submitted a favorable report, and here the 
matter, for the time being, was allowed to rest. 

The Board of Promotion, however, was not idle. Its preference 
was for an exhibition at the Capital, and it even proceeded so far as to 



ORGANIZATION OF THE FORCES, 513 

consider and finally adopt plans for the erection of both temporary and 
permanent buildings at Washington. 

The press of the entire country took cognizance of the movement, and 
the interest, if not the enthusiasm, of the people of every section was at 
once aroused. The project met with general favor, and its consummation 
soon came to be regarded as an accepted fact, the accomplishment of 
which was only a matter of time. Public opinion having been emphati- 
cally expressed in favor of the celebration, in the halls of Congress, in 
the press, in public gatherings, on the floors of commercial exchanges 
and on the streets, the possible advantages — financial and otherwise — 
accruing to the city where such an exhibition should be located early 
became a subject of eager discussion. Long before Congress had taken 
definite action in the premises, competition for the site was earnest, 
clamorous and resolute between the cities of Washington, New York, 
St. Louis and Chicago. The claims of Washington were persistently 
urged on the ground that, as the Exposition was to be fathered and fos- 
tered by the national government, the national capital was the only 
appropriate location. Common cause against Washington was made by 
New York, St. Louis and Chicago, the latter city being the first in the 
field. The controversy between the four contestants was not conducted 
without much good-natured raillery, underlying which, it must be con- 
fessed, was a spirit of more or less acrimony. Not an advantage was 
left unclaimed by either of the rivals, not a defect existed that was not 
pointed out by some competitor, and for months the arguments carried 
on in the press furnished entertainment to the entire country. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE FORCES. 

The ultimate triumph of Chicago was due, in no small degree, to 
earlier and more perfect organization. As early as August, 1889, a 
corporation known as the World's Exposition of 1892, with a capital 
stock of $5,000,000, was formed under the laws of Illinois, the expressed 
object of which was to promote the holding of a World's Fair in Chicago 
in 1892. Among the signatures 'affixed to the application for a license 
were those of men whose lives were identified not only with the munici- 
pal government but also with the city's growth and prosperity. Within 
seven months the entire amount of capital stock had been taken. On 
March 23, 1890, a call was issued for a stockholders' meeting, at which — 
on April 4, following — a Board of Directors was elected. Subsequently, 
at a meeting presided over by his Honor, Mayor Cregier, a committee 
of one hundred leading citizens was appointed to visit Washington and 
33 



5H 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



employ all honorable means to secure the location of the proposed ex- 
hibition at Chicago. 

The New York Chamber of Commerce, at the suggestion of Mr. 
Cornelius N. Bliss, took action looking toward the location of the fair at 




HON. THOMAS W. PALMER. 

President World's Fair Commission. 



the great Atlantic entrepot of the commerce of the American continent. 
At a meeting convened under the call of Mayor Grant, a committee of 
one hundred was appointed, and four sub-committees— on permanent 
organization, finance, site and buildings, and legislation — were named. 
The sum of $5,000,000 was guaranteed by individual subscriptions, pro- 
vided, of course, that New York be selected as the location. Ground 



PILLARS OF THE EXPOSITION. 515 

lying immediately north and west of Central Park was chosen as a site, 
and the draft of an act prepared. 

Action of a character similar to that of Chicago and New York was 
also taken by St. Louis. 

Congress accorded the representatives of the four competing cities 
a hearing before committees, and it was agreed that the choice of a site 
should be left to Congress. The project of holding a World's Fair 
having been accepted, a most vigorous campaign for securing the loca- 
tion was inaugurated and waged by the advocates of the competing 
points. Headquarters were opened, sectional pride and sympathy were 
stimulated, and the fight went merrily on. 

PILLARS OF THE EXPOSITION. 

The result was that, after several ballots, the bill prepared was 
amended by the insertion of the word "Chicago" in the blank left for the 
interpolation of some name in the draft approved by Congress, and the 
date of holding the Fair was postponed until 1893. The measure was 
approved April 25, 1890. Chicago having now the coveted prize, the 
next step was to effect a local organization, the selection of the members 
of the directory being determined by a vote of the stockholders. The 
vote resulted in the choice of men widely known in the financial centres 
of the world: Lyman J. Gage, President; Thomas B. Bryan, First Vice- 
President; Potter Palmer, Second Vice-President; Benjamin Butterworth, 
Jr., Secretary; Anthony F. Seeberger, Treasurer; and William Ackerman, 
Auditor. 

Mr. Gage is a native of the Empire State and has been a banker 
during the greater portion of his life. As a resident of Chicago since 
boyhood he has been not only identified with some of her largest com- 
mercial and financial enterprises but with her artistic and charitable 
institutions. 

The act of Congress provided for the appointment of a National 
Commission, to be composed of two members from each state and terri- 
ritory and from the District of Columbia and eight commissioners-at- 
large. The commissioners from the respective states and territories 
were to be nominated by the respective governors and approved by the 
President; the eight additional members were to be named by the Chief 
Executive. 

Before the selection of the local directory, President Harrison had 
approved of the gubernatorial nominations and made his own, and the 



5i6 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



first meeting of the National Board was held at Chicago, on June 26, 
1890. and on the day following an organization was effected by the 
election of Kon. Thomas W. Palmer, of Michigan, as President, and of 
Hon. John F. Dickinson, of Texas, as Secretary. 




HON. THOS. B. BRYAN, 

First Vice-President World's Fair Directors. 



Mr. Palmer was born and educated in Michigan, but since his 
younger years he has had the benefit of European travel, a large and 
successful business experience, and service both in state and national 
Senate. He is, in fact, a man of broad education, broad experience. 



PILLARS OF THE EXPOSITION. 



517 



broad culture, suave and persuasive in his manners, and withal energetic 
and determined. 

By common consent of both the National Commission and Illinois 
Corporation, Hon. George R. Davis, of Chicago, was elected Director 
General, or Chief Executive of the World's Fair. Before he was of age, 




COL. GEORGE R. DAVIS, 

Director General. 



Col. Davis enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment. His promotion was 
steady as his bravery was assured. Since coming to Chicago he has 
maintained his military reputation, has served three times in Congress 
and been otherwise honored. The chief responsibility of the conduct of 
the World's Fair rests on him, and the burden rests on strong shoulders. 
It is surely within bounds to say that the great pillars of the World's 
Fair, from first to last, have been Director General Davis; Presidents 
Gage and Palmer; Thomas B. Bryan, First Vice-President of the Local 



THE WORLD S FAIR. 



Directory, who proved such a force in the presentation of Chicago's case 
before Congress; E. T. Jeffery, of the Committees on Grounds and 
Buildings and State and National Exhibits, who visited Paris for the pur- 
pose of examining into the workings of her last exposition, and came to 
Washington splendidly equipped as a Chicago champion; and Benjamin 
Butterworth, the diplomatic, able and tireless Secretary of the Local 
Directory. 




MRS. POTTER PALMER, 

President of the Board of Lady Managers. 

BOARD OF LADY MANAGERS. 

The law creating the World's Columbian Commission directed the 
Commissioners to appoint a Board of Lady Managers "to perform such 
duties as may be presented by said Commission." As constituted, the 
body consists of eight Managers-at- Large, two representatives from 
each State and Territory, and nine from the city of Chicago, with 



EXHIBITS, SITE, PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION, ETC. 519 

alternates. An organization was effected on November 19^ 1890, by the 
election of Mrs. Potter Palmer, of Chicago, President, and Miss Phoebe 
Couzins, of St. Louis, Secretary. 

Before her marriage, Mrs. Palmer was a beautiful Louisville girl. 
She is finely educated and of aristocratic descent. To her fame as a 
beautiful and charitable Chicago lady and a charming hostess^ she has 
added that of a rare executive officer. Miss Couzins is a lawyer by pro- 
fession, and is known throughout the country as a lecturer, a recognized 
authority on national charities and reforms — all in all an energetic and 
a brilliant woman. Both of the chief officers of the Lady Managers are 
vivified with bright French blood. 

As the title of the body implies, its purpose is to provide complete 
and attractive exhibits of products of every department of women's work 
in every field and in every land. A site — one of the most desirable and 
commanding of locations — was assigned for the erection of a building, 
of appropriate design, to be constructed from plans prepared by lady 
architects. 

By the appointment of this Board, which exhibits the best types of 
womanhood in the United States, the national government has made a 
departure which is unique and admirable in the history of the expositions 
of the world. Whenever before was woman and man so honored? The 
act is worthy of the century and the event. 

EXHIBITS, SITE, PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION, ETC. 

The preliminary work of classifying the proposed exhibits was early 
entrusted to Prof. G. Brown Goode, of the Smithsonian Institution, and 
a leading member of the Board of Management of the United States 
Government Exhibit. After being revised and amended by the National 
Committee on Classification, the Exposition was finally divided into the 
following great departments. 

A. Agriculture, Food and Food Products, Farming Machinery 
and Appliances, 

B. Viticulture, Horticulture and Floriculture. 
C Live Stock, Domestic and Wild Animals. 

D. Fish, Fisheries, Fish Products and Apparatus of Fishing. 

E. Mines, Mining and Metallurgy, 

F. Machinery. 

G. Transportation Exhibits — Railways, Vessels, Vehicles. 
H. Manufactures. 

y. Electricity and Electrical Appliances. '' 



520 



THE world's fair. 



K. Fine Arts — Pictorial, Plastic and Decorative. 

Z. Liberal Arts — Education, Engineering, Public Works, Archi- 
tecture, Music and the Drama. 

M. Ethnology, Archaeology, Progress of Labor and Invention — 
Isolated and Collective Exhibits. 

N. Forestry and Forest Products. 

(9. Publicity and Promotion, 

P. Foreign Affairs, 




MOSES P. HANDY, 
Head of Hureau of Publicity and Pron 



More or less discussion followed as to the choice of a site. One 
was tendered to the National Commission by the Local Directory at the 
first meeting of the former after the completion of its organization, which 
at first seemed to meet with general approval. At subsequent confer- 
ences, objections were urged and this vital point long hung in abeyance. 

The necessity for additional legislation, both state and municipal, 
was soon perceived. The former beine considered the most vital, the 



THE SITE. 52 [ 

Governor of Illinois was asked to convene the legislature in special 
session, with which request he cheerfully and promptly complied. The 
end in view was to enable the city of Chicago to contract a bonded debt 
of $5,000,000, the proceeds to be devoted to the furtherance of the in- 
terest of the Exposition. The legislature adopted the necessary measure, 
and upon ratification of the same by popular vote, the securing of the 
additional funds was assured. 

THE SITE. 

For many, and cogent reasons, it was deemed wise that some site 
in the South Division of Chicago be selected for the location of the Ex- 
position. The Commissioners of the South Park were willing to meet 
the Local Directory half way in the request of the latter that a portion 
of the improved lands under their control be turned over for this purpose. 
For a time there appeared to be imminent danger of a disagreement be- 
tween applicants and officials to whose care the property was intrusted. 
All questions at variance were, however, finally settled in a spirit of 
mutual concession and general devotion to a common cause. Jackson 
Park, containing 586 acres, — one of the most beautiful within the city 
limits — with such portion of the contiguous Washington Park as might 
be needed, together with the interlying, cultivated strip of land known as 
the Midway Plaisance (embracing 80 acres of ground,) were surrendered 
for the purposes named. 

At first it was thought that a dual site would be desirable, and it 
was proposed to utilize a portion of Chicago's Lake Front for the erec- 
tion of certain buildings, at least one of which — the Art Palace — was 
designed to be permanent. Grave objections presented themselves to 
this suggestion, however, and after having been earnestly championed 
and for a time approved and acted upon, the idea was finally abandoned. 
The outcome of all the agitation was that upon the first three localities 
named — Jackson and Washington Parks and the Midway Plaisance — 
comprising some 800 acres, were located all the exhibits of the Fair. 

After it was decided to locate the main portions of the Exposition 
at Jackson Park and the Lake Front, the Board of Architects — which 
at first consisted of D. H. Burnham, Chief of Construction; John W. 
Root, Consulting Architect, and F. L. Olmsted & Co , Consulting Land- 
scape Architects — pushed its work forward as rapidly as possible, 
submitting a general report in November. Afterwards the work of 
preparing plans for the main buildings was placed in the hands of experts 



522 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



from New York, Chicago, .Boston and other cities, and the plans were 
finally adopted in February, 1891 — subject to modifications. 

On December 24, 1890, through the Department of State, the 
President extended invitations to foreign nations to participate in the 




HON. BENJAMIN BUTTERWORTH. 

Secretary of World's Fair Directors, and Solicitor General, 

Exposition. In the proclamation it was also announced that the #10, ■ 
000,000 and adequate grounds, as required by law, had been provided 
for the World's Fair. France was the first country to formally respond. 
Even by March, 1891, the appropriations which had been made by the 
Government, the Local Directory, the States, Territories, foreign nations, 
corporations, associations and private individuals amounted to I32,- 
000,000. Evidently, the World's Fair had been founded upon a rock. 



MOSTLY IN THE AIR. 




nations. 



WORLD'S FAIR MAMMOTHS. 

»HE Eiffel Tower was the great and crowning glory of the French 
Exposition. In fact, the Exposition is, in history, associated 
with the tower, rather than the tower with the Exposition. Its 
stupendous height dwarfed the fabled structures of history, and 
since then to out-Eiffel Eiffel has been the ambition of many 
In inventive genius the American is awarded the palm, and the 
Great Columbian Exposition afforded him every chance for a display of 
that genius. Of the thousands of schemes evolved from the American 
brain to add greatness to the Fair and, incidentally, glory to the inventor, 
the greater majority took the shape of tall buildings, reaching from any- 
where on the ground to any place in the clouds. Space was to be pene- 
trated and the stars made captive to Yankee enterprise and Yankee 
genius. Of the very many such structures the following are selected — 
every one feasible, at least in the minds of its advocates: 



TOWERING ON PAPER. 



"The Chicago Columbus Tower" was to have been 1,500 feet high, 
by 480 feet wide at the base, constructed of steel and iron and supported 
by the contributions of the visitors and sixteen great arched legs. This 
huge daddy long-legs was designed on paper by rapid Chicago gentle- 
men. It would have required over 7,600 tons of steel, 6,000 tons of 
iron, and the small sum of $2,000,000. From the center was to rise a 
dome, 200 feet wide and 200 feet high, which was to be used by concert 
and theatrical troupes. The dome would seat 25,000 people. Eighteen 
elevators, each with a capacity of fifty people, would afford ample em- 
ployment for the same number of obliging elevator boys. Unfortu- 
nately, these elevators were not intended to have gone any higher than 
1,250 feet. But for the sake of affording the heathens from other lands 




IICAGO COLUMBUS 
1,500 feet higli. 



NO LUCK IN THIS SHOE. 525 

a chance to travel farther in the direction they never were intended to go, 
a small piece of silver will insure a view of heaven 250 feet nearer. On 
the summit of this great tower it was originally intended to put a great 
globe thirty-three feet m diameter, and provided with sixteen powerful 
electric lights, which were to be observable fifty miles distant. As the 
tower has not been built, the idea of putting the globe there has been 
abandoned. 

But genius did not halt here. An electric tower was projected which 
should shoot into the ambient air for 2,750 feet, until its flagstaff might 
almost tickle the chin of the old man in the moon. Its height and dimen- 
sions were as follows: base, 1,000 feet from corner to corner; height to 
first platform, 1,000 feet; to second platform, 1,750 feet; to third plat- 
form, 2,750 feet. An enormous electric light crowned the entire struc- 
ture. 

The projector of the ''Columbian Memorial" very wisely stated that 
it could be built to any dimensions, but he desired it as follows: The 
ground plan was in the shape of an eight-pointed star, from the center of 
which was to rise a steel tower, the apex of the flagstaff of which was to 
be at an altitude of 1,492 feet. The pedestals of the tower — sixteen in 
number — were in a circle. Surrounding the tower and resting on its 
pedestals was to rise in impressive grandeur an immense glass and steel 
dome or hemisphere 400 feet high and 400 feet in diameter, thus giving 
unobstructed space for the amphitheater and other purposes. The 
building could have been adapted to innumerable purposes, being equally 
important in all its parts and appointments. The projectors suggested 
that an amphitheater be arranged in the rotunda, with galleries, etc., capa- 
ble of seating 50,000 persons, and the building of an immense chamber 
in one of its wings to seat from 10,000 to 15,000 people, the opportunity 
being unexceptionable to obtain a perfect line of sight and acoustics near- 
ing perfection. The estimated cost of this structure was in the vicinity 
of $2,000,000, but in the opinion of the projectors the revenue to be 
derived from the investment could not have failed to pay large returns to 
a well-organized corporation. The profits possible from such a building 
appalled the directors so much that they were afraid to undertake the 
responsibility of taking care of the heavy receipts. It is not yet built. 

NO LUCK IN THIS SHOE. 

Then, again, there was to have been a "Columbus World's Fair 
Triumphal Arch." It was in the form of a horseshoe, and large enough 
to allow a horse 3,000 feet high, but without a rider, to pass beneath. 




THE COLUMBIAN TRIUMPHAL ARCH. 

Two-thirds of a mile high. 



THE UNIVERSE TAKEN IN. 527 

Elevators would run inside of the arch and land passengers out of sight 
at a height of 3,250 feet, where a large bald-headed eagle would be seen 
taking care of the stars and stripes and, incidentally, of the earth. As 
will be seen by the illustration, it was a great idea, and only failed in its 
accomplishment. 

THE UNIVERSE TAKEN IN. 

Another design equally as interesting was a "Memorial Tower of 
the World's Fair," and is thus described by its enthusiastic projector: 

"In the base of the tower and within the frame work supporting the 
upper portion of the structure is placed a globe, intended to represent 
the earth, and mapped out as accurately as possible, representing the 
different oceans, seas, continents and islands, with all the rivers, lakes 
and mountains clearly defined and the respective heights of the moun- 
tains illustrated. Every city of the world is clearly shown in its proper 
geographical position upon the earth's surface, with every point of great 
interest. This globe is 400 feet in diameter, and mounted upon a low 
pedestal of suitable dimensions, inside of which are numerous elevators 
and a grand stairway. These elevators are intended to land the passen- 
gers in the interior of the globe, which I propose to call Astronomical 
Hall — an exhibition of the solar system, the sun being represented by an 
enormously powerful group of electric lights, incased within a translucent 
globe, suspended in the center of space. This is to be the only light 
within the globe, so as to produce the same effect upon the planets as 
does the light of the sun. Within the lower portion of the structure and 
surrounding the globe is an electric railway, ascending in a spiral form, 
and having a grade of one foot in fifty. The tracks, which aggregate 
seven miles of railway, with their supporting girders, form so many cir- 
cumferential bands or girts attached to the inner surface of the main sup- 
porting frame-work. This railway lands its passengers upon the grand 
gallery, which forms the approach to the theatre and elevators. The four 
towers contain sixteen electric elevators, having a capacity of elevating 
and returning 15,000 persons a day, landing them upon the third gallery 
or upon the entrance to the four grand hotels." 

The projector said and did other things concerning this great tower 
of which history has kept no record. It will be seen, however, that he 
meant well. 

An enthusiast from Utica, N, Y., proposed to have a globe repre- 
senting the earth, and above that a hotel, and yet above that a tower, the 



528 THE world's fair. 

top of the latter being 1893 feet nearer heaven than earth is. So far as 
learned, the projector's idea has not been carried out. 

MODEST ONES. 

Then there was the telescope tower, made in any sizes from pocket 
up, but mostly to suit the size of the pocket. The gendeman from Con- 
necticut who evolved the great idea in his saner moments described the 
wonderful structure about as follows: The first base would be about 
400x500 feet, by 100 feet high. Rising from this about seventy-four 
feet would be another section, leaving a margin on first base of twenty- 
five feet. From the top of this base would rise another structure 150 
feet more. These sections would form the base of a gigantic monument- 
shaped tower. Now, in the base would be erected a telescopic structure, 
consisting of steel tubes within tubes, placed in circles, joined to each 
other by powerful pumps in such a manner that, at a stated time every 
day during the Exposition, the pumps would be started, and this steel- 
tube structure would slowly rise until, at the end of two or three hours, 
it would tower like a mighty monument 1,000 feet high in mid air. On 
the first section there would be a drive-way; on the second a bicycle- 
way, and on the small end of the telescope a restaurant with galleries 
around. What a beautiful idea he had of being telescoped into eternity! 
The plans have been prepared for some time, and are better prepared 
every day. 

A French artist suggested a plan consisting of two lighthouses, with 
a globe of the world on each and Columbus standing astride, on the old 
and the new continent. The statue was to have been sixty-five feet high 
and the whole structure 200 feet high. The cost was estimated at 
$100,000. Since this idea was evolved it has been proven that the Colossus 
of Rhodes was a Roman fake. The Fair directors did not desire that in 
after years, centuries hence, their memories should be reviled by such an 
insinuation, and so the idea was not carried out. 

A Minneapolis architect, in a moment of inspiration, prepared plans 
for a building to seat 120,000 persons, affording, at the same time, ample 
space for a full mile race track, base ball and cricket grounds and arti- 
ficial lake, with artificial water. The building was designed to be 400 
feet high, and surmounted by a globe 200 feet in diameter. The most 
marvelous feature of the structure was a drive-way for carriages, begin- 
ning at the base and circling around to the foot of the big globe. An 
electric railway was designed in the mind of the architect to wind around 



DROPPING A THOUSAND FEET INTO WATER. 



529 



the same course. The seating capacity would have been six times as 
great as the Colosseum. Generally and for the benefit of those who are 
fond of well-fed words, the contemplated structure consisted of an amphi- 
theatre one mile in measurement on its periphery, and of oval form. 
Within the ellipse occupied by the seats for the audience it was possible 
to place the entire adult population of the city of Chicago. 

DROPPING A THOUSAND FEET INTO WATER. 



The numerous means pro- 
posed for getting as far away 
from this earth as possible may 
have suggested to a French en- 
thusiast the idea of falling 1,000 
feet, or as many more or less 
as desirable. He would, if he 
had his way, have dropped a 
projectile-shaped car from a 
tower 1,000 feet in height into a 
basin of water. Not one of those 
in common use every day, but 
one built for the purpose. 

The cigar-shaped car, ac- 
cording to his plan, should be 
built of steel, with a number of 
interior cones to prevent com- 
pression of air in the passenger 
compartment when the craft 
strikes the water. The proper 
height of the projectile was given 
as about forty feet and its weight 
estimated at eleven tons. If 
dropped from a height of 1 .000 

feet, the car would be traveling at a speed of 250 feet per second when 
it strikes the water. As this rate is considered more than three times as 
fast as an express train, the occupants would gain an idea of what rapid 
transit really means. The basin was to be 200 feet deep. Before 
reaching that depth, the resistance of the water would bring the projectile 
to a gradual stop, when it would rise to the surface, ready to be carried 
to the elevator leading to the tower from which the drop was made. 
34 




VIEW OF THE DROP. 



THE FALLING CAR. 



530 



THE world's fair. 



The arrest of motion would be so gradual that the fifteen passengers, 
seated on cushion chairs on a floor resting on springs, would not be 
jarred when the craft struck the water. 

For some reason or other — probably both — the idea was not carried 
out. It would have afforded foreigners, however, a good chance to learn 
what is meant by the American expression, "taking a tumble." 

A LOOK UNDERGROUND. 

Coming nearer to the reali- 
ties of life, it was proposed to 
show the visitor to the Fair the 
great mines of the world. To 
do this, it was necessary to take 
them into the bowels of the 
earth, and here, again, the great 
American genius came to the 
front with the following idea: 

Above ground there was to 
have been a unique structure, the 
entrance to a shaft, in which 
people, by means of elevators, 
would descend to a depth of 500 
feet. Here, on emerging from 
the car, they would find them- 
selves in a spacious circular- 
shaped underground room, con- 
taining seats for repose and 
space for various exhibits of 
mining wealth. Here the differ- 
ent processes of mining, wash- 
ing and smelting would be daily performed by skilled workmen. Had 
this scheme been carried out, it would have afforded an opportunity to 
learn what it is to live underground, away from the broils of society, and 
study the monotonous life and toil of the dusky miner. Samples of ore 
from the great lodes of the Pacific coast, of salt, of coal, of copper, and 
all minerals, would have been reproduced in position, as removed from 
some of the rocks of the underground world. Europeans would then 
have learned what was meant by American mining stocks. Of course, 
the interior of this mine would have been strongly perfumed and 




INTERIOR OF THE FALLING CAR. 



SOME DOMES OF THOUGHT, 



531 



lighted. A good many would have infinitely preferred going down 500 
feet, instead of going up 1,500 feet, as it would have been less strange. 

SOME DOMES OF THOUGHT. 

Many of the genii allowed their thoughts to wander to buildings, 
whose vastness spread more on the earth than into space. For instance, 
there was the great Columbus Dome, the leading feature of which was 
a great hemisphere, having a radius of 400 feet — that is, a diameter of 




THE COLUMBUS DOME — EXTERIOR VIEW. 

800 feet. This dome was designed to rise from a flat, pedestal-like 
building, which was in the form of a cross, 1,892 feet long and 1,492 feet 
deep. On the top of the dome was to be a temple of Liberty, and on 
this structure a colossal figure of Columbus, pointing to his discovery, 
which is represented by a great map on the face of the dome. The style 
of architecture of the exterior of the building was the Italian renaissance, 
while that of the interior of the dome would have been Moorish. The 
Temple of Liberty at the top of the dome was to have been over 600 feet 
above the ground, and about 100 feet in diameter. The material was 
designed to be iron and steel, and the cost about $3,000,000. 



532 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



Still another design was by a fellow-countryman of Columbus, and 
was a globe resting on a pedestal or base. The pedestal was of graceful 
proportions, 300 feet high. The monument was a globe whose diameter 
was to have been equal to the height of the Eiffel Tower, Surmounting 
the whole was to be a full-rigged ship. The total height of the monu- 
ment may be put down at about 1,400 feet. At the equator a gallery 
was to run round this globe, which was to have been about two-thirds of 
a mile in circumference, while on the surface was marked the continents 
and oceans, just as on a school globe. From the equator to the north 




THE COLUMBUS DOME — INTERIOR VIEW. 



pole, winding around the outside, there was an inclined railway nearly 
four miles long. A large statue of Columbus stood in the center of the 
base under the globe. A Columbus museum and library devoted to 
literature in connection with his discoveries and those of other explorers 
was to have been established, and restaurants were to be placed here and 
there at more or less elevated positions. An observatory was also to be 
built at the summit of the monument. The cost of construction was es- 
timated at about $5,800,000. 

This design was hardly sufficiently expensive to meet the ideas of 
the World's Fair Directors, and so it was not considered. 



SOME DOMES OF THOUGHT. 



533 



An individual with a ponderous brain had the temerity to propose a 
tower to be at least 1,500 feet high. He was also under treatment for 
his ailment, but found time in saner moments to put his plans on paper, 
where they have remained ever since. He would have an aluminum 




--^ M 



PALACIO S COLUMBIAN GLOBE. 

1,400 feet high. 



cylinder, similar in shape to that which, in its halcyon days, sustained the 
Mount Carmel Airship, but of enormous size, and capable of containing 
an unmentionable number of cubic feet of gas. To this he earnestly 
desired to attach a large car or circular room, the whole thing to be 
anchored to the ground at a height of 1,500 feet. Should the cable 
snap — why, then all the passengers had to do was to leave the car to 



534 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

take care of itself, and get out. This scheme has never been success- 
fully tried, however. 

One more reference to a dome planned for the great Exposition. 
An Eastern editor evolved a plan for a dome, resting upon a perfectly 
solid foundation, but a little above the level of the city streets — an 
exact circle on the ground plan, and an exact half circle in elevation, arch 
and roof. The plan contemplated a dome 400 feet in diameter and 200 
in height, this surmounted by a tower of 175 feet, and this, again, by a 
globe twenty-five feet in diameter. The height of all would have been 
400 feet. This would have given a mammoth hall 400 feet in diameter, 
and capable of seating 25,000 people. These poor people will now have 
to stand the remainder of their lives, as the dome has really not been 
built. 

UNDER ONE ROOF. 

A scheme that attracted great attention for awhile was the Jenison 
tent plan. It was the idea of a local architect that he would like to be 
awarded the contract for roofing the greater portion of Chicago. He 
had an idea, and has it still, that it would have been the crowning glory 
of the Fair, had his suggestions been carried out. A center-pole he 
would erect, 1,492 feet high, and cover, with canvas, sheet-iron, or glory, 
a space large enough to cover the entire business portion of Chicago 
north of Twelfth street, and to the river. This huge tent would have 
contained thirty times as much space as the Colosseum of Rome. The 
wires supporting the great roof would be 1,785 feet in length, and the 
wall of the circular tent would be 500 feet high. Around this wall it 
was the design of the architect to build balconies for special exhibits, 
those of the States and foreign countries being arranged from the center- 
pole out. It was a great idea, and would have cost the city of Chicago 
the small sum of $6,000,000, But as the tent was not erected, the money 
it would have cost has not bankrupted any one. 

GREAT HEAVENS! 

A ponderous idea was evolved by a religious enthusiast out of his 
own head. It was a World's Fair Temple of Religion, and would have 
cost the modest sum of $30,000,000. But it does not cost anything to 
tell about it' 

The plans of the Temple included an immense circle, 875 feet in 
height and 1,750 feet in diameter, a circle of circles around this, each 
875 feet in diameter, and still another circle of circles around this, each 



WHAT LAZY PEOPLE MISSED. 535 

438 feet in diameter. In each of these circles the projector would have 
pictured the paradise of all nations and all times; that of the Christians 
to be given "the seat of honor" in the great central circle or dome. In 
another circle, one of the second size probably, would be placed the 
Mohammedan paradise, filled with lovely houris. In still another would 
be the Polynesians' heaven; in still another the Ethiopians', and so on 
to the end of the long roll of heavens that the differing desires of men 
have manufactured from time immemorial, and are continuing still to 
manufacture. In these various temples it was proposed, if they had been 
built, that services should be held daily during the Fair, in accordance 
with the rites of every religion under the sun ; the projector estimating 
that the worshipers gathered from all quarters of the globe would amount 
to at least a million. 

WHAT LAZY PEOPLE MISSED. 

So far so good, as to the buildings. But there were schemes innu- 
merable suggested, to mention a tithe of which would be impossible. 
The means and methods of transportation seemed to worry inventors to 
an unwarranted degree. How would it have pleased the visitor to the 
Exposition to have found for his accommodation a gently-moving plat- 
form, making a circuit of the buildings and grounds, while he sat reading 
his guide-book or eating a sandwich? And yet that was the luxury pro- 
posed. 

Almost level with the regular foot-way was to have been laid a 
wooden path, carried on a kind of underground railway, at a rate of 
speed so slow that every one could step on or off without an effort. 
There was no interstice between the stationary path and the moving one, 
no place where anything could catch, not even a crack for a child's toe. 
It was to be simply a lapping of one plank over another. At intervals 
of a yard or more were uprights which furnished a hand-hold to any one 
walking alongside who wished to step on, or any one riding to step off. 
The taking it must not be confounded with mounting a horse car while it 
is moving, for there the step is raised and the speed far greater — two 
material factors in mounting a moving vehicle. This was to be more 
like the change from walking on one plank to standing still on another. 
The moving platforms were really three in number; a slow one on each 
side, and a faster one in the middle. The whole roadway was necessa- 
rily continuous, circular, oval or elliptical; no halting or reverse of the 
motion being possible. The center platform was to be provided with a 



TRANSIT FOR THE RUSHERS. 537 

row of seats, covered with a pavilion or canopy. It is difficult to imagine 
a more delightful and exhilarating trip than the circuit of the great ex- 
hibits in this ease and comfort. The motion would be more like sleigh- 
riding than carriage or car travel. But this glorious device never was 
adopted, and the beautiful picture of laziness hugging herself still remains 
nothing but a picture. 

TRANSIT FOR THE RUSHERS. 

No one has as yet traveled 200 miles per hour, but there is no tell- 
ing how fast they would have got along had the Hydraulic Railway been 
adopted. The method employed is the use of slides instead of wheels, 
and the use of water as the bearing surface on which the car rests. The 
propulsion is likewise accomplished by water. The train consists of a 
number of open cars. Underneath the cars is a continuous line of pal- 
lets or buckets, like the chambers of a turbine wheel. By a system of 
automatically opened and closed nozzles a stream of water is directed 
against these pallets and drives the train forward. The essential part of 
the invention, however, is the slide which replaces the wheel of the ordi- 
nary train. This slide is a metal box with a depression in the center, 
forming a step which supports the suspension rod, which in turn supports 
the car. Water is introduced into the box from above. The included 
air, being compressed, forces the water out through a series of compli- 
cated and interrupted channels in the base, which rests on a perfectly 
smooth, flat rail, which is further embraced by deep flanges on either side 
of the box. The water forced out forms a very thin cushion between 
the rail and the base of the box, and on this continuous cushion of water 
the train slips along with a minimum of friction. This cushion or film of 
water is not over 1-40 of an inch in thickness. 

It was thought that the Airship would have been completed in time 
to bring passengers from New Orleans and New York in the morning, 
returning them to their several homes on the same day, but fate has 
ordained otherwise. There is no recounting the innumerable sugges- 
tions made to the World's Fair Board of Directors — from the man who 
wanted to reproduce Adam and Eve, to the modern inventor who desired 
a garden of flowers made of glass, the petals forming miniature incan- 
descent lights. From these few descriptions, however, the visitor to the 
Fair can form a good idea of what might have been. 

These words are scarcely run off the pencil when the writer is rung 
up by telephone, and a friend at World's Fair headquarters, who keeps 



538 THE world's fair. 

him posted, shouts through it that he has another scheme to tell about. 
Another Chicago genius proposes not to out-Eiffel Eiffel, but to 
out- Pisa Pisa. The leaning tower in Italy would be straight as a deacon 
compared to this one. The inventor says it will be 225 feet high, 70 
feet square, and boldly lean 100 feet from the perpendicular. "The entire 
structure is of metal" (we quote his words), "principally steel, weighing 
about 500 tons above the foundation, and of novel cantilever construc- 
tion that affords all requirements of stability. It will be built to safely 
sustain a load of 160,000 pounds on the top story. The frame-work is 
of steel-truss construction, forming a huge cantilever of enormous 
strength and rigidity, which combines for support a substructure of metal. 
The depth of substructure is 48 feet; area, 165 by 115 feet. The con- 
struction of the foundation is chiefly 
of plate-riveted iron girder work, im- 
bedded in concrete, which forms a 
solid bed about eighteen feet deep. 

"The walls of the tower are com- 
paratively light, being simply a framing 
of small-sized angle iron attached to 
the truss-work and having a facing of 
embossed sheet metal. The exterior 
will be painted a dark terra-cotta color. 
"Electric-hoist elevators and easy 
stairways conveniently lead from the 

THE CANTILEVER, OR LEANING TOWER. , . . , 

entrances to the upper stories. Above 
the first story there are five floors. They are inclined and consist of a 
series of broad steps extending across the tower. Numerous windows 
light the interior, balconies provide interesting outlooks for visitors, and 
at the top of the tower an extensive view of the surroundings and a mid- 
air realization may be had. A spacious buffet, serving light refresh- 
ments, will be in the top story, and about midway will be the tower 
curiosity-shop. The visitor can also reach the foundation and view the 
construction. 

"It will take eight months to build this structure — cost $500,000."' 
These figures are refreshingly modest — but the telephone rings 
again, to say that four more men are in Director Davis' waiting-room, 
with schemes in their pockets ranging from one mile underground to a 
mile above, and from $500,000 to $5,000,000; also that Mr. Davis has 
been again seized with the grip — or seized his grip (the words are 
muffled) — and started for the South. 




OUR WORLD'S FAIR CITY, 



A GRAND LAKE FRONTAGE. 



.T was a broad avenue, alive and brilliant with every style of turn- 
out, and manhood, and womanhood. From the modest, low, 
basket carriage, drawn by the frisky little Shetland, to the 
gorgeous tandem and the massive English cart; from the laugh- 
ing women and children, out for fun, to the aristocrats, out for 
parade; from the dainty, giggling miss, tripping along the broad stone 
walk of the grand Lake Front, musical with fountains and decked every- 
where with statues and gems of landscape architecture, to the dozing 
lounger stretched upon his bench and getting his fill of elysian air, un- 
clouded and untainted by city smoke; from first to last — from the 
muffled rumble of the cars, running beneath the covered way over which 
thousands of pleasure-seekers were strolling along the shores of the 
lake, to the silent but almost consciously beautiful palaces lying across 
the avenue and facing this expanse of animation, of marble, of green 
and blue loveliness — everything pointed to the fact that here was the 
approach to some magnificent municipal body. Opposite the park was 
an almost solid array of palatial structures — the elegant grounds bright 
with gay groups of visitors — and vast granite and brick blocks. 

In fact, the World's Fair City had been thrown open to the world. 
The Exposition was open, and a party of distinguished foreign guests 
were being chaperoned about Chicago — were being introduced to it — and 
had taken as their starting point this splendid public green by this splen- 
did lake. 

In the first carriage was an enthusiastic, observant, talkative French- 
man, who observed that one would know that they were approaching the 
magnificence of a great city. The fact, to him, was in the very air, pure 
as her smoke consumers had made it. His English companion — a 
middle-aged gentleman, who looked "beefed and aled" into loyal pas- 
siveness — twirled his thumbs skeptically, but said nothing, A cool- 
browed but warm-blooded and bright-eyed journalist, the conductor of 
the party, who for several years had passed the age of manhood, gazed 

539 



540 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



mildly into the distance and bided his time. A well-bred, military Rus- 
sian ofificer completed the quartette in this carriage, while behind them 
rolled along, in another conveyance, a studious, investigating, spectacled 
German, with an Austrian count, an Italian official of some kind, and a 
Spanish Republican. "What are these grand buildings along here?" 
asked the Russian officer, pointing to the left, "This vast granite and 
limestone pile of ten stories is as impressive as anything in St. Peters- 
burg; it would be more so if it had more space around it." 




THE AUDITORIUM, 



"This is the Michigan avenue, or hotel side of the Auditorium 
building, which is to be thrown open to some of the great congresses of 
the World's Fair. The theatre and opera entrances are on Wabash 
avenue and the side street — Congress. Look at that acre and a half of 
massiveness, rising from its gigantic granite foundations and colossal 
pillars, the stones and supports getting smaller as the upper stories are 
reached ; finally that great building called a tower — eight stories, or ninety- 
five feet piled on the 145; and a smaller tower, thirty feet higher — placed 
upon the 240. There's a perch for the Signal Service — 270 feet up!" 



A GRAND LAKE FRONT. ^41 

"It looks as solid as Gibraltar outside," remarked the Englishman, 
allowing his eyes to wander over its massive perspective. 

"And inside you will really find artistic effects," insisted the French- 
man, "worthy of Paris. That hotel, with its marble walls and pillars, 
great banquet hall, elegant saloons and dining rooms, and the audito- 
rium hall, in the opposite part of the structure — for size it is unrivalled. 
With the stage, which is a large hall in itself^ it seats 8,000 people. 
Marble pillars, marble walls everywhere, curtained and mirrored dress- 
ing rooms for visitors — really for convenience, acoustic properties and 
elegance — but I should be disloyal to Paris to say more, " concluded our 
Frenchman, laughing brightly. 

Beside the Auditorium, hardly diminished by its shadow, was a 
granite palace of darker shade, through whose enormous windows noble 
steeds were seen, attached to every variety of wheeled vehicle, A 
grand arched driveway pierced it. Merely the salesrooms of a large 
carriage manufacturer, this ! The steeds were stuffed. 

"Aha! So they have an Art Institute," remarked the French- 
man, referring to his guide-book and pointing to a dark, rich-colored 
sandstone building to the left of the avenue. "They should have it even 
nearer the lake. And the building is hardly worthy, although it has a 
generous, welcoming look." 

"But what have they inside?" asked the English visitor. "Rather 
a city of money-getters, you know. Trade and merchandise, I believe, 
amounts to something like a billion and a half. They pack $140,000,000 
worth of meat — hogs, about $60,000,000. Biggest lumber market, big- 
gest meat market, biggest produce market, biggest railroad center, big- 
gest increase of bank deposits in the country. But what have they in- 
side their art institutes?" and the Englishman looked around, question- 
ingly. 

"There is quite a nucleus within, and you see that magnificent 
architectural pile, nearly opposite the Lake Front — in time that will 
be filled with real treasures. Truly an art palace," said the Frenchman. 

"We're moving," said the native newspaper man . "Since we've lifted 
such cities as this out of the prairie muds, we haven't had much time to 
make a business of getting artistic and cultured. We're beginning to 
get time now. Our bankers, our board of trade men, our pork packers, 
and their sons and daughters, are supporting and developing our art 
institutes and our scientific societies. Why, the President of our World's 
Fair Directory and one of its leading directors were at the very founda- 
tion of this Institute. They and other wealthy gentlemen and ladies not 



542 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

only worked for it, but loaned their valuable paintings and works of art 
to it. We are money-getters, but not quite money-hardened." 

"I understand, also," said the Russian officer, "that no city in 
America responded so enthusiastically to the paintings of our Vere- 
schagin and the Angelus as Chicago," 

On they rolled past more hotels of marble, granite and brick, and 
still more, and finally a noble nine-story structure of fine brick, with 
ornamental towers, gigantic granite foundations, and huge polished pil- 
lars which would have withstood any Samson. As the carriage passed 
a grand entrance our foreign friends were undecided as to whether it 
was a city, a state, or a national building, or an evidence that there were 
princes in the land after all. They were more in doubt when the car- 
riages drew up to the grand entrance, on the side street, with its paved 
inner court, the walls ornamented with rich tilings, and two massive stone 
staircases leading to the floor above. When they learned that this was 
the property of the man who built the dining, parlor and sleeping cars 
in which they had luxuriated from the sea-coast; that it contained, be- 
sides his offices, those of a great military department of the United 
States, a large restaurant, and scores of living rooms— scores of homes; 
and that the said Mr. Pullman owned a city toward the south, besides 
this palace, an elegant home and his car works, they were not credulous, 
but slightly disturbed, because both the American journalist and the 
Americanized German who imparted the information did so with such an 
air as to convey the impression that they had Pullmans in store — galore. 

CKiCAGO'S HISTORIC GROUND. 

Down the avenue the carriages glided, past large business houses 
and the imposing Public Library (in what used to be known as Dearborn 
Park) on the west, while toward the lake still lay the variegated stretch 
of sward, flower wonders, sprays and marble gems. Then they swept 
into a district of wholesale houses— groceries, spice, tea and coffee 
houses, boot and shoe and dried fruit establishments, chemical works and 
what not. They finally diverged toward a huge steam bridge which 
spanned the river and were about to cross it, when the drivers were 
ordered to draw up to the side of the street. Pointing across the river 
at a huge pile of factories and warehouses, the newspaper guide pro- 
ceeded to explain that over on the other bank, not ninety years ago, 
there came a Michigan fur trader and bought a log hut which had form- 
erly been occupied by a mulatto adventurer. The successor to the 



CHICAGO S HISTORIC GROUND. 



543 



mulatto was a Frenchman, and he sold out his business to John Kinzie, the 
fur trader, the Indian agent, the silversmith, who made trinkets for the 
Indians — " 

"How many years ago, my boy?" asked the Englishman. 

"1804 — he's right Indians were here in 1804 — until 1835," said 
the Frenchman, who was studying his guide-book. 

"Kinzie enlarged the hut into the first family residence in Chicago," 
continued their guide, "and brought up a lot of children there. Across 
the way, right there" (pointing across the street to a five-story brick 
building, which presented a narrow front at the sharp angles where two 
streets came together) "right there, opposite John Kinzie's house, which 
stood on the other bank of the river, where that factory backs up nearly 



to the wharf, was the 
erected about the time 
upon the scene. A 
the corners of a pali- 
passage to the river, 
an Indian surprise; 
building for the In- 
storehouses between; 
cratic South Side of 
very early days the 
North Side consisted 
and two or three 
French traders, their 




government fort, 
that Kinzie first came 



FIRST RESIDENCE IN CHICAGO. 



'^{M block-house at each of 
sade ; an underground 
to be used in case of 
near the fort a log 
dian agent, with 
that was the aristo- 
the river. In these 
equally fashionable 
of the Kinzie house 
other huts held by 
Indian wives and half-breed children. This Fort 
Dearborn, the officers and their families, the Indian agents and traders, 
John Kinzie, wife, and the little Kinzies who were born across the river 
there, were about all of Chicago, until she was platted as a canal 
town, in 1830." 

The Frenchman had been silent for some time, but at length said; 
"From all I can learn we Frenchmen have always done the rough work 
here in Middle America. Still you call us dainty. When your English 
and your American traders came to Chicago you found that we French- 
men had been here ahead of you. Your first known Chicagoan, your 
mulatto from Hayti, was more a Frenchman than anything else, and fled 
to the swamps and woods of this region because he could not live at 
Fort Chartres, the French capital of the Illinois country, after it fell into 
the hands of Englishmen." 

"But what is the meaning of the i iscription under the old block- 
house — the bas-relief on the stone tablet which is set into the front of 



544 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



this building?" As both carriages drew nearer the tablet at the same 
time, it is evident that the question was put nearly simultaneously by 
some member of each party. 




The inscription was to this effect: "This building occupies the site 
of old Fort Dearborn, which extended a little across Michigan avenue 
and somewhat into the river as it now is. The fort was built in 1803-4, 
forming our outmost defense. By order of General Hull, it was evacu- 



CHICAGO'S HISTORIC GROUND. 545 

ated August 15, 181 2, after its stores and provisions had been distributed 
among the Indians. Very soon after, the Indians attacked and massa- 
cred about fifty of the troops and a number of citizens, including women 
and children, and the next day burned the fort. In 18 16 it was rebuilt, 
but after the Black Hawk war it went into gradual disuse, and in May, 
1837, it was abandoned by the army, but was occupied by various gov- 
ernment officers till 1857, when it was torn down, excepting a single 
building, which stood upon the site until the great fire of October 9, 1871." 

The visitors were much interested in the story of the massacre, es- 
pecially as by stepping around to the head of the avenue they could get 
a view of so much of the route taken that August morning — that march 
of death along the sand hills by the lake shore, and the final massacre by 
the skulking savages at a point near Eighteenth street, south of the Lake 
Front Park. In the distribution of the stores, the blankets, calicoes and 
paints were passed over to the Indians, but the muskets, bags of shot 
and flints, were thrown into the river and the garrison well. This under- 
handed proceeding, the Indians afterwards admitted, was the cause of 
the massacre. 

"After the massacre," broke in the Frenchman again, "Chicago was 
deserted by all save my people. Did not a Frenchman hold John Kin- 
zie's cabin for him? If I am not misinformed, a few French traders — 
half-breed Indians, they were — one of them a great friend of Mr. Kin- 
zie's, kept Chicago until peace was again declared with England, and the 
government rebuilt your fort in t8i6. Then, in short order, came your 
Kinzies again to share the early days with the French Beaubiens. But 
Mr. Beaubien — he got to be colonel of your county militia afterwards — 
had been upon the abandoned site of Chicago before him and raised a 
crop of corn from the farm of old Fort Dearborn. Afterwards a good 
many Frenchmen became residents — organized your first church — but I 
mustn't go into that. The Beaubiens — the brothers and the younger 
generation — did as much as the Kinzies toward the building of the sec- 
ond Chicago. But I can't quite forgive your treatment of my country- 
man, the Colonel. He bought the military reservation, covering your 
lake front and the land where your Public Library stands, for $94. You 
Chicago people said he should have it, and so did your State courts, but 
the highest court in the land said 'no.' So the poor Colonel, like most 
pioneer Frenchmen in Middle America, was crowded out of his home. 
The Government paid him back his $94 and sold the reservation to the 
city, provided your lake front and Dearborn Park were always to be used 
for public purposes." „g 



54^ 



THE world's fair. 



WHY WOLF POINT WAS NOT OUR CENTER. 

"You spoke of the town being platted in 1829-30, did you not?" 
The Italian spoke. The German guide assented. "Well, I knew you 




were young, but not i-^ young." The Spaniard smiled sympathetically. 
The Italian admitted, further, that he could now understand why they had 
met no ruins along Michigan avenue. "But you have ruins somewhere?" 



WABASH AVENUE. 



547 



"Not now, but we have had them, and after riding through the 
business parts of the city I shall tell about them," soberly replied our 
German friend; "and they were no such mellow ruins as we have on the 
Danube and the Rhine. I want to say, too, that when the canal com- 
missioners surveyed the section which is now embraced by State and 
Madison, Desplaines and Kinzie streets, the most active center of 
Chicago was not where it is now. The Military Reservation wasn't in- 
cluded — Wabash and Michigan avenues and the cross streets — but that 
isn't what I mean. You ought first to get the Chicago river well in your 
mind. Although in those days the river took a half circle around Fort 
Dearborn and emptied into the lake far south of where it now does, still 
its main course, then as now, was east. Two branches form this east- 
ward trunk, one flowing from the north and the other from the south. 
Where the branches meet the main river, on the western banks, was and 
is a point — Wolf's Point it had been called for years before the commis- 
sioners decided to make a canal town of Chicago. There, so said the 
sharpest, was to be the settlement. For a year before the town was 
surveyed one of Kinzie's sons had been keeping tavern at Wolf's Point; 
also a store. Nearly opposite, on the north branch, Kinzie's son-in-law 
kept a rival hotel. Within hailing distance, on the south side of the 
main river, was a famous tavern run by Mark Beaubien, the younger 
brother of John. The postoffice was in the old Kinzie house, North 
Side, Father Kinzie having died at the fort two years previous, where 
his married daughter lived. There was the fort, and the Indian agent's 
house, and Col. Beaubien's trading hut just outside the reservation, on 
the South Side. But later we got to be the county seat, and a lock-up, 
and a little court house was built on the square, and the river was 
straightened and its mouth cleared of sand, and the harbor improved by 
the government, and vessels came in, and steamers, and there was a rush 
to get lots on the river, and houses and stores and offices sprung up on 
its banks and near them — and Wolf Point became a suburb. It's now 
covered with elevators and warehouses and railroad tracks, and opposite 
on either side of the main river are great coal yards and warehouses, 
and wholesale stores." 

WABASH AVENUE. 

At a nod from the guides the drivers now turned their horses up 
River street until they came to Wabash avenue. A dash up the avenue 
showed how closely successful business houses crowded each other on 
both sides of the way — the most luxurious groceries, the finest millinery, 




MASONIC TEMPLE. 



STATE STREET AND THE MASONIC TEMPLE. 549 

g-lassware and china establishments, straw goods, willow ware and carpet 
houses, furniture dealers, pianos, stationery and book stores, etc., etc., 
were there — just where they were most required. 

After visiting the Libby Prison, which was brought from the South 
to this city of the North, brick by brick, the gentlemen were driven 
west to State street. 

STATE STREET AND THE MASONIC TEMPLE. 

Then they glided rapidly past a solid mile of retail stores of all 
grades, with popular theatres planted, wonderful to relate, right in the 
midst of people and not too near together! On this street, also, which, 
below Madison, was formerly the eastern bounds of Chicago, were found 
gigantic department stores, covering acres and acres of area, supplying 
everything needed by man, woman and child, under any conceivable con- 
dition. The half a block of iron and Maine granite, on the corner of 
Van Buren, which represents $1,250,000 of Mr. L. Z. Leiter's money, 
and the "Fair'' leviathan of steel and terra cotta, covering as much 
ground, twice as much height and more than twice as many dollars, are 
not to be passed without recognition. Neither is Marshall Field's great 
establishment, located in the lower portion of the thoroughfare, within 
convenient distance of the substantial citizens and the masses of the 
North, South and West divisions, 

"But, my dear sir, that is a giant standing down there to the right!" 
exclaimed the Russian, half rising from his seat in his admiration, as the 
superb proportions of the Masonic Temple came into clearer view. 

The grand structure, twenty stories in height, rising 275 feet in its 
architectural strength and beauty, its fronts of granite, brick and terra 
cotta being all of equal finish, needed no words to enforce the truth that 
master minds had conceived and master hands executed. The visitors 
alighted from their carriages and spent fully an hour wandering around 
the balconies of the court within, and examining the beautiful goods dis- 
played in the entire streets of shop windows which occupied nine or ten 
stories of the temple. Above these were hundreds of offices, and the 
three upper floors were given up to the halls and parlors of the Masonic 
fraternity, all furnished and decorated in princely style. 

REAL ESTATE AND POLITICS. 

"Here's where we make our homes," remarked the newspaper man, 
smiling at his companions and waving his hand up Dearborn street, into 



550 



THE WORLD'S FAIR, 



which the carriages swept. "There are more and sharper real estate 
men, I venture to say, in the district bounded by Dearborn, Randolph, 
La Salle and Adams streets than within any equal area in the world. 
That's why Chicago is getting to have more 
homes than any other American city — that, and 
because her clerks, her workmen and her busi- 
ness men know how to earn money, how to 
save it, and how to invest it. 

" The real estate men and the lawyers are put- 
ting up some of the biggest office buildings in 
the world here in Chicago; the capitalists them- 
selves say that they do it. Look at the Pontiac, 
for instance : Fourteen stories, brown pressed 
brick and steel, cost #350,000; and the Monad- 
nock, a great, square, chocolate-colored fortress 
of the same material, devoid of beauty, but 
mounting sixteen stories and costing #f,ooo,- 
000. Both on this street; corners, Harrison 
Think of it! But we have something more 




PONTIAC BUILDING. 



and Jackson, respectively 
interesting in another direction. 

"Up Washington, driver. Stop on the corner of Clark. There! 
Here we are on historic ground again. This is the birth-place of Chicago 
politics. On that square, in the early thirties, were a log jail and a long, 
one-story brick court house, with broad steps and Corinthian pillars in 
front. Not so large as 



this present court house, 
but still a kind of a 
sawed-off mass of base- 
ment, pillars and cor- 
nices. The court room 
was above, the county 
offices below — " 

"But why mention 
the jail in connection 
with the birth-place of 
Chicago politics?" in- 
terrupted the English- 
man, raising his eye-brows 




FIRST CITY HALL. 



The delineator smiled, as if it had been an 
oversight, and continued, nodding to the Lake-street corner and his 
French companion: "There was a plain, three-story brick structure. 



REAL ESTATE AND POLITICS. 



551 



thought grand in those days, called the Saloon Building, in which our 
first City Council met — 1837." 

"Oh, yes; I see. Saloon Building — birth-place of Chicago poli- 
tics, I see;" and our English guest unbent and slapped his knees. 

"But you mistake him, my friend," replied the French gentleman^ 
somewhat severely. "I have read of this Saloon Building, and find that 
the word was not applied in the vulgar democratic sense. In it were not 
sold whisky and beer. The word is the French salon — a hall — even a 
palatial hall. The public room in the upper part of this building was 
thought one of the finest in the western country. Below were reputable 
business establishments. We shall not allow our friend here to have his 
joke on that. Chicago politics are bad enough, but they were not of 
necessity conceived in iniquity." 

"Good," admitted the Enghshman, and the laugh went round. 

"Now, if we could bring you to 
the spot, near Lake street and the 
river, where Mark Beaubien's favorite 
'Sauganash Hotel' stood, and in which 
he fiddled, and beamed, and dispensed 
various inspiration— then you would 
know where bloomed the first Chicago 
politicians." 

Across the way from the Wash 
ington and La Salle corner of the 
Court House Square, the visitors were 
introduced to the lofty structure of 
terra cotta, stone and iron, thirteen 
stories in height, known as the Cham- 
ber of Commerce. 

"Here, then, you sell and buy 
those great quantities of grain, some 
of which you only have in your mind 
move that we look into the chamber." 

It was then explained that this was the home of the Board of Trade, 
from a year after the Fire until the completion of the new building at the 
head of La Salle street, twelve or thirteen years afterward. The build- 
ing was not what it is at present, however. In 1890. the old structure 
was used as a basis for the expenditure of $2,000,000, its height was 
doubled, the interior completely revolutionized — in fact, the old Board of 




CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 



said the Enelish traveler. 



552 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



Trade building was swallowed by the new Chamber of Commerce and 
disappeared entirely. Banks and offices now monopolize it." 

"Then we'll drive on and see your actual Board of Trade building," 
they all declared. 

In the same block, however, with the Chamber of Commerce build- 
ing, corner of La Salle and Madison streets, was the Tacoma. Superb 
stores occupied the first floor. Twelve stories of fine brick and terra 
cotta above were composed of hundreds of elegant offices, the highest 
being ornamented with an array of light pillars and elaborate cornices. 
The Tacoma has a grand entrance both on La Salle and Madison streets, 
and is one of Chicago's architectural tri- 
umphs. 

As far as could be seen, north, south, 
east and west, were solid ramparts of stone 
and brick structures, towering lOO, 150, 200 
feet and over. The streets were seething 
with people, their voices muffled by the pon- 
derous din of traffic. 

A WOMAN'S TEMPLE. 

The graceful and massive Board of 
Trade was but few a blocks beyond, its tower, 
which rose 300 feet above the din, being sur- 
mounted by a noble vessel of the lakes — 
symbol of what first brought prosperity to 
the banks of the Chicago river, and a guide 
to mariners far out on the lake. It seemed 
to block the street completely. But as the visitors drew near Monroe 
street, their attention was riveted upon a temple whose purposes they 
could not fathom. For two stories the walls were of rugged granite, the 
main entrance being a magnificent combination of marble pillars and ala- 
baster walls; above the two stories of granite, marble and alabaster were 
seven stories, built of buff brick and terracotta; and from the tenth floor 
the building line retreated, and an immense roof of brown tile com- 
menced, breaking, as it ascended, into Gothic turrets. From the center 
of these sprung a bronze tower, seventy feet high, or 285 feet above the 
observers. The beautiful tower of bronze was surmounted by the speak- 
ing form of a woman, her face upturned and her hands outstretched to 
heaven. 




THE TACOMA. 




THE TEMPLE. 

The Home vf the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 



554 THE world's fair. 

"This is the Woman's Temperance Temple," said the guide, in an- 
swer to general inquiries, expressed by both words and looks. 

"Built by women?" asked the Russian and Spaniard in wonder, 
"and to keep men from drinking?" 

Without discussing the temperance question from an American 
standpoint, it was explained that this great edifice was a monument to the 
energy, ability, heart and soul of woman, and that it had been dedicated, 
in November, 1890, to the destruction of intemperance, whether it had 
laid hold of man or woman. The dedicatory ceremonies were partici- 
pated in by thousands of children, by prominent clergymen and public 
men, and by the greatest generals of the temperance crusade in the 
world. 

"And can American women carry on, unaided, such an enterprise?'' 
persisted the gentleman from the North. 

"Our Spanish beauties, I must admit," said the gentleman from the 
South, "would consider it almost a miracle for the men." 

"This is merely an iota in the temperance work accomplished by 
women. From this building go out tons of pamphlets, newspapers and 
books to the very ends of the world, and missionaries, too — weak 
women," laughed the newspaper man. "This temple is worth looking 
into," 

The gentlemen from both carriages alighted, and, passing through 
the grand entrance, were introduced to some of the gracious ladies 
found in charge of the national, state and city headquarters, on the 
first floor. They were then conducted to Willard Hall — lined with mar- 
ble and covered with various inscriptions. They were told that the hall 
had been named after Miss Frances E. Willard, one of the most able and 
practical reformers whom the country had produced, and, for many 
years, the acknowledged head of this movement. The marble walls were 
inscribed with the names of individuals and societies who had contributed 
toward the erection of the temple. There were also beautiful memorial 
windows, and busts and statues in honor of the heroes and heroines of 
temperance. Eleven floors of the temple were given over to offices, the 
rentals from which, it was explained, had already gone far toward paying 
for this splendid monument— raised at a cost of $1,100,000. The 
ground upon which it stands had been leased for two hundred years, at 
a rental of $40,000 a year. In fact, it had become quite general to lease 
ground for a century, or two centuries, which was an evidence of the 
faith possessed by Chicago in her own permanency. 



THE ROOKERY AND HALL OF BABEL. 



555 



THE ROOKERY AND HALL OF BABEL. 



The visitors left this Woman's Temple with some reluctance, and a 
block beyond it were directed to a superb structure of granite and brick, 
a dozen stories in height, which they were told went by the very strange 
title of "The Rookery." It is but politeness to explain why it is called 
Rookery. Within a week after the Great Fire, workmen commenced 
upon a new city hall, its location being upon a tract of land on the 
southeast corner of Adams and La Salle streets. Nearly in the center of 
this 190-foot square, owned by the city, was a great iron tank (with a 
good brick substructure) which had once served as a reservoir for the 
South Side water works. Around this structure, as a nucleus, a rough, 
shambling, two-story brick building was erected. When finished, by 
New Year's day of 1872, the uncouth reservoir protruded considerably 
above the highest roof of the City Hall, although, in places, an extra half 
story had been added to the two floors. The old tank had really cause 
to feel dignified, for it now served as a vault for the keeping of valuable 
documents. But although the city and some of the county of^cials 
of a great municipality transacted their business in this structure, the 
birds came also and built their nests in its 
many corners and crannies. The safety 
tank was an especially favorite haunt — so 
the newspaper boys say — of the rooks. 
At all events, the dingy, country-looking 
concern which the City of Chicago occu- 
pied for thirteen years got "Old Rookery" 
fastened upon it, so that the name is still 
applied to this rich, grand affair on the old 
site. 

As the carriages drove away from the 
Rookery to continue up La Salle street to 
the Board of Trade building, it would 
have been an oversight not to have re- 
marked that the next block to the east was occupied by the Government 
building, and that the impressive ten-story structure near the southwest- 
ern corner of Adams and La Salle streets was for some time the head- 
quarters of the Exposition officials. This was the Rand-McNally block — 
occupied by the largest map and atlas house in the world. 

But the Board of Trade temple was finally reached. Granite and 
iron, it was; cost, $1,500,000. Through the grand entrance, on Jackson 







THE ROOKERY. 




BOARD OF TRADE. 



LIMITS OF THE GREAT FIRE. 557 

Street, on either side of which were massive pillars of gray granite, the 
visitors passed up the stairways of variegated granite to the great 
hall above, with its sample tables for grain, flour, etc., its pits for both 
grain and provision dealers, and the bewildering shouts and antics of the 
operators. The clicking of telegraphic instruments, the lightning-like re- 
cording of the markets by the bulletin clerks, and the darting of messenger 
boys but added to the wonder generally expressed by our visitors that 
in the midst of such a whirl could be transacted the commerce which had 
made Chicago famous. 

Coming from the temple of trade, with their heads buzzing, the 
guide thought it but an act of kindness to take them through the great 
wholesale district of clothing, boots and shoes and kindred goods, which 
lay west of them to the south branch of the river. This seemed a good 
point to call attention to the fact that south of the Board of Trade, on 
Van Buren street, and on the western side of the river — in fact, just on 
the outskirts of Chicago's greatest furnishing district — were the depots 
of those railroads over which the manufactures of the East were sent. It 
was a singular coincidence. Perhaps mercantile foresight, and a determi- 
nation to obtain possession of the goods to be sold as quickly as possi- 
ble, might have something to do with this admirable state of affairs. 

LIMITS OF THE GREAT FIRE. 

Finally, driving on Van Buren street toward the river, the party 
stopped at the intersection of one of the broadest of these thoroughfares. 
It was evident that there was an indecision as to whether they should 
cross the bridge to the great democratic west side of the river, or choose 
some other section for their investigations. 

It did not look very inviting, the strangers thought — crowded with 
square brick factories, warehouses and stores, and now and then a little 
patch or stretch of dilapidated frame houses which looked, even from a 
distance, as if they were fighting for their lives. 

"It is not very inviting," the Chicago man admitted. "But we will 
drive over that way (pointing toward the southwest) about three-quarters 
of a mile, make one stop of about three-quarters of a minute, return to 
this spot, and then follow the South Branch and the main river to Rush 
street bridge, which will take us over onto the North Side." 

The carriages, therefore, crossed to the West Division, and within a 
few minutes reached a conglomerate neighborhood of factories, stores 
and dirty frame houses. At length they drew up in front of two resi- 



558 THE world's fair. 

dences of quite substantial and respectable appearance — one of brick, 
the other of stone. The house of stone, a large two-story and basement, 
was their objective point. 

Another opportunity was given to study an inscription upon a tablet. 
It was a marble slab, four feet by two, which was built into the front 
wall just above the basement line. The inscription read: 

THE GREAT FIRE OF 1 87 1 

ORIGINATED HERE, AND EXTENDED TO LINCOLN PARK, 

CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, l88l. 

There was no one in that party who had not heard of the Great Fire 
of 1871, but their ideas of it were confused, as a whole. 

"Now, here is a good point from which to start on a grand excur- 
sion," proposed the Russian. "We've had some great fires in Moscow. 
Our English friend here has had his London fire, too. Now, let us see 
if we can get a clear idea of this Chicago fire of only some twenty-two 
years ago. You Chicagoans seem to reckon so many things from the 
Fire!" 

"We have been driving thus far over a portion of the burnt district," 
said the newspaper fiend, smiling modestly. 

"What," exclaimed the Italian, "all your finest business district 
razed to the ground within the life-time of a young man, and these pal- 
aces and temples built! And you say only a portion!'" 

"From this point, where stood the historic O'Leary house, with a 
barn in the rear — " 

"Mrs. O'Leary milking, and the cow kicked over the lamp," inter- 
rupted the Hnglishman, laconically. 

"No; that story was exploded a week after the fire. Mrs. O'Leary, 
her husband and neighbors all swear, was in bed — that no milking was 
done that night — everybody who ought to know clears both Mrs. O'Leary 
and the cow; but there is no use trying to crush that yarn," said the 
Chicago man in disgust. 

"Well, the Great Fire broke out, when the whole city was tinder, at 
the rear of this lot, about 9 o'clock Sunday evening, when the honest 
O'Learys were in bed. It swept northeast, between Jefferson street and 
the river, and soon crossed it completely, never to return. Van Buren, 
Polk and Adams street bridges and the vessels lying by the docks were 
just what were needed for the flames to spring over by. The grand leap 
was made about midnight, and in a minute a whole square of frame and 
brick buildings was licked up, the assaulting force was sending great 



LIMl'l'S OF THE GREAT FIRE. 559 

balls and shafts of fire in every direction, and a dozen fires were raging 
at once. The general direction, however, was northeast. From the 
moment the gas works, on Adams street, were fired the conflagration took 
a bound like a whipped steed. The Grand Pacific Hotel — not yet com- 
pleted—the Post Office, the Court House, the Chamber of Commerce, 
the solid, 'fire-proof buildings on La Salle street, Field & Letter's, the 
Palmer House, whole blocks and streets of structures, any one of which 
a city might be proud of — all swept away in such a whirlwind of fire that 
no one could tell at the time the extent of the ruin. Within twenty-four 
hours all the district between Harrison street. Dearborn and the river 
had been laid in ruins. Of the newspapers, the Tribune, on Dearborn 
street, was not touched. But hardly had its editors and those east of 
the street begun to breathe a little easier before a hurricane, which came 
from no one knew where, caught up a storm of live coals and hurled 
them against the wooden buildings on Dearborn street, and the South 
Side was again in a sea of flames. On they swept northeast to the lake, 
and then returned and traveled back on State street and Wabash avenue. 
Gunpowder, however, carried the day along Harrison and Congress 
streets, for by the blowing up of several buildings the enemy was checked 
here." 

"But think of it! Where the fire crossed the river — that is, about 
the center of the mass — was almost directly west of where we com- 
menced our ride on the Lake Front. All the ground we covered was 
swept, only two buildings which could not be called ruins remaining; 
t,6oo stores, 28 hotels, 60 manufactories — 450 acres of ruins. Very 
well. We'll creep along the river, as the fire rushed." 

Thereupon the party was driven along South Water street, between 
solid embankments of oranges, bananas, chickens, meats, potatoes, 
vegetables, butter, eggs, express wagons, lake captains, sailors, tug men, 
etc., etc., for this is the great produce market of the city, and one of the 
greatest in the world. They soon arrived again at Rush street bridge, 
and after driving "up town" for dinner, decided to "do" the North Side, 
the Parks, the Boulevards and the Stock Yards in the afternoon and the 
next day. 

The gentleman from Rome inferred that there they might find ruins, 
but was told that, for the same reason as the former one, no, sir. 

"And have we not covered your burnt district yet?" asked the 
Russian. "I see why you date so many things from the fire, and write 
it with a large F." 

"By the way, here is a picture I've kept of the first building erected 



LIMITS OF THE GREAT FIRE. 



56J 



in this district after the fire— 89 Washington Street; location on the 
north side of the street, between Dearborn and Clark," and the news- 
paper man took a picture from his pocket-book, which we present to our 
readers on this page. 

The drive, partly along the residence avenues and partly along the 
lake shore, when the carriages passed over to the North Side, was both 
charming and refreshing. As they swept along it was explained that at 
this point, at the time of the fire, the city extended westward for a mile; 
first, the more elegant residences and churches, then a crowded district 
of retail stores, plam houses and churches— nearly all foreigners; next, 
manufactories, railroad tracks, etc. All this was razed to the northern 
limits of Lincoln Park — four miles and a half in a straight line from 
O'Leary's shanty. But the North Side fire did not appear to be a direct 
continuation of the South Side conflagration. After the latter had been 

raging for nearly three hours, a fire broke 
out in some livery stables east of State 
street (North Side), being communicated 
from some combustible substance stored 
in railroad cars near by. This fire made 
a comparatively narrow swath, however — 
east of State street to the lake — but it 
made it to the Water Works in about 
an hour and took them also. In the 
meantime, up from the south and the 
southwest rolled wave after wave of the 
first conflagration. Blazing timbers, balls and tongues of flame, were 
driven across the river, and Clark, La Salle and all the other streets 
were swept, bridges burned and thousands of people literally driven to 
the shores of the lake, while some were roasted alive. 

As the strangers were driven along, the different localities were 
pointed out. An attempt was also made to describe the feelings of the 
city, when, about midnight of Monday, after the South Side had been 
razed and 1,500 acres of the North (nearly all of it), the raging monster 
commenced to lap up the coal and lumber yards near Chicago avenue so 
ravenously that fears were expressed that he would recross the river, 
sweep south and destroy the West Division, the only valuable district 
remaining. But Chicago was not to be entirely wiped out, although one- 
third of the total value of property within the city, twenty-six hours 
before the fire, was swept away, viz: $186,000,000; 100,000 people were 
made homeless and over three square miles of the city were in ruins. 




FIRST HOUSE ERECTED AFTER THE FIRE. 



562 



THE world's fair. 



THE PARKS AND BOULEVARDS. 



As an entrance was made into the artificial and natural beauties of 
Lincoln Park — there is a great, splendid green at its lower end — someone 
was heard to remark that Chicago had laid out to be a world's metropo- 
lis, by providing for good lungs, or breathing places. It was the French- 
man, who had been doing some figuring in his guide-book, and an- 
nounced, moreover, that Chicago had already 2,000 acres of parks, to 
say nothing of her miles of boulevards which swung around the city. 




He was greatly pleased with this, the oldest of the parks, with its artificial 
lakes, drives, restaurants, rustic retreats, conservatories, zoological ex- 
hibits, statues, and, most of all, with "what we shall always miss, even 
in Paris, when we see this — your Lake Front." 

After driving through the park for about three-quarters of a mile, 
nearly all the distance in sight of the lake, the tourists turned toward the 
west and left its bright waters and fresh breezes with regret. They were 
three miles from the river, or that distance from the point where the fire 
commenced to sweep the North Side. Where they turned away the 
monster had been stopped in his mad career by thick groves of trees 
which had been saturated by floods of welcome rain, and thousands of 
people who had encamped in the park, with their children and scant 



THE PARKS AND BOULEVARDS. 



5^: 



household goods around them, received, in what seemed a blessed bap- 
tism from heaven, merely their sentences of death. 

The visitors left, with regret and wonder, the beauties and associa- 
tions of Lincoln Park, being especially impressed with Lincoln monu- 
ment and the Grant equestrian statue, as well as the group of Indians 
in bronze which so faithfully depicted the approach of civilized intruders — 
doubdess white interlopers. As the drive took them westward and away 
from the fire district, their thoughts gradually drifted from that awful 
event to the fresh attractions of their boulevard spin. For three miles 
they sped over a macadamized road, as smooth as a floor, bringing up at 




a little park, known as Logan 
Square Lincoln, Grant and Lo- 
gan — a trio of noble dead whom 
the proudest of Europeans might 
be proud to know! 
Turning south, the course was along a broader band of boulevards 
for a mile and a half to Humboldt Park — another 200 acres of groves, 
lawns, meadows and lakes, or lungs for the tired and hot men, women 
and children of Northwestern Chicago. Douglas (180 acres) is over two 
miles south of Humboldt Park. Each is four miles from the City Hall, 
or the central districts of Chicago — the latter southwest and the former 
northwest. 

Between the two, and more to the west, is Garfield Park. It is on 
the line of Madison street, the great business thoroughfare of the West 
Side, and its 185 acres of lakelets, islands, pavilions, grass plats, play 
grounds, rustic seats* and lovers' retreats are as well patronized as any 



564 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

area given up to similar purposes in the city. Fortunately, our visitors 
drove through the grounds during the progress of one of those popular 
afternoon concerts, which add so much to the pleasures and restful influ- 
ences of an outing. 

The suggestion to finally bring up at the South Park system, or 
World's Fair parks, was hailed with delight. When told of the beautiful 
drives, the elegant stores and residences, and the imposing churches of the 
West Side, they were inclined, however, to see that city within the city. 

"I suppose," ventured a timid voice, which was ascertained to be the 
newspaper man's, "that if you travel over the West Side, east of here 
for four miles, you would want to see the balance of it for two miles west 
and two miles south; and you surely would not miss two or three of our 
prettiest little towns, seven or eight miles northwest of here, which the 
city took in three years ago, and which you could not now separate with 
a case-knife. All this is outside of the boulevard system which we have 
been traversing. And, of course, in order to be civil, when you have 
done that, you will feel obliged to visit these charming residence districts 
and homes of the dead, which lay north of Lincoln Park for five miles 
and from the lake, inland, half that distance." 

"Excuse me; but I thought your boulevard system formed your city 
limits," said the Englishman. 

"Bless you, no, my dear sir!" exclaimed the newspaper man, 
warming to his subject, and dropping his little by-play. "There are 
bigger districts south of here than those I mentioned, which are all north 
and west of the parks and boulevards. After we have taken our drive 
four miles south and four miles east to Washington Park, instead of 
going on to Jackson and the lake again, I might take you for twelve 
miles in a southeasterly direction, through what were, three years ago, 
thickly settled suburbs and great manufacturing towns, but which since 
then have been made a part of Chicago. Why, for nearly four miles 
below Washington Park, this city is more than eight miles in breadth — 
in one place it is ten. For twenty-three miles this World's Fair city 
stretches itself along this lake of ours, and averages seven miles inland. 
I think, my dear sirs, that if you do not wish to spend the night on the 
road we had better drive along toward the World's Fair grounds, after 
we have visited the Live Stock Yards, and then take a four-mile hum 
along the boulevards to what you call the city. Perhaps it would be 
well to take luncheon at the Stock Yards, and — " 

"What!" exclaimed our French guest, forgetful for the moment of 
his good breeding. 



THE PARKS AND BOULEVARDS. 565 

"There is a fine hotel there," replied the newspaper man; "but wait 
and see." 

South of Douglas Park the carriages turned off from the boulevard, 
and after crossing a labyrinth of railroad tracks, upon some of which cars 
were still standing, loaded with hogs, cattle, horses and sheep, they ap- 
proached a city of pens, alleys, streets, stables, huge packing and slaugh- 
ter houses and other large buildings. One of the latter, fully 250x50 feet, 
was pointed out as the Exchange Hall, and contained bank, post-office, tele- 
graph and business offices. Near by was a commodious hotel and a h'ttle 
newspaper office, and to the latter (after lunching) the visitors went for 
information as to the Stock Yards and the business transacted. It was 
discovered that the yards proper had about 150 acres under cover and 
about 250 acres of open pens; also that 15,000,000 animals were 
handled in a year — nearly two-thirds hogs. Cattle had come in quanti- 
ties. During one day 25,000 had arrived and been handled without con- 
fusion. Well, of course, $250,000,000 was considerable money to re- 
ceive in the shape of live animals; but, you know, Chicago is not sur- 
prised at anything she does herself. 

Soon afterward the visitors were being whisked toward the boule- 
vard again and their destination — the South Parks. 

"Well, well; that Stock Yards is a great place," said the English- 
man, rubbing his hands. As he spoke of the beeves he saw, his hands 
approached suspiciously near his stomach, "But when you see our 
English exhibit at the Fair, you'll see blood — blooded stock, sir!" 

"To change the subject," said the French gentleman, "although I 
may wish to say something about the beauties of the Parisian abattoir 
system, would it be asking too much of any one who attended the dedi- 
catory ceremonies of the Fair to tell me something about them? I was 
absent at the time on a business trip to Algeria, and saw only a short 
dispatch stating that they were grand and rather historical in their char- 
acter." 

"Yes, they were grand," responded the journalistic guide. "Of 
course, as we are a peaceable nation, and as the Fair was to commemo- 
rate an era of industrial, commercial, social and political development, 
there was some objection, at first, to the plan of ushering in the celebra- 
tion with a military parade. But I do believe, when our ten thousand 
boys, belonging to State and national organizations, marched through the 
streets, that the general feeling was one of pride in such splendid speci- 
mens of manhood. I know I shall rest easier, hereafter, when you peo- 
ple over there" (smiling at his English companion) "talk of war. After 



566 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

marching through the streets to Jackson Park, the encampment was held, 
and in the evening the committee who had the ceremonies in charge pre- 
sented a series of superb tableaux. You should have seen Columbus 
grow from a boy to San Salvador, and to the triumph when Ferdinand 
and Isabella were proud enough to have him around, with his wonderful 
woods, flowers, and Indians. 

"The next day (October 12, the date of the Discovery) was the great 
day of the Fair. It was ushered in by a national salute of forty-eight 
battery volleys, fired by all batteries in attendance. At 10 o'clock a. m. 
the troops were formed and escorted the President of the United States, 
the diplomatic corps and distinguished foreigners to the main building. 
Upon the arrival of the President, the consolidated bands played 
'America,' The entrance of the thirteen original States took place with 
appropriate ceremonies — banners emblazoned with the coat of arms, the 
States represented by their Governors, uniformed staffs, etc. ; then in 
reasonable rapidity the different States, in order of their entrance into 
the Union. 

"Then, after choral and orchestral music, which was simply colossal 
in its effects, the wonderful buildings were shuffled along like a pack of 
cards, from the President of the Local Directory to the President of the 
National Commission, to the President of the United States, Orations, 
and choruses, and salutes put a large period to the day's ceremonies, and 
we were treated to more historic tableaux in the evening, showing us the 
Pilgrims, Washington, Fulton, Lincoln and other fathers of the country. 
The burning of Chicago and its rebuilding, with a picture of the World's 
Fair itself, made the tableau of the series. 

"Thursday and Friday, October 13 and 14, were devoted to mam- 
moth civic and industrial processions, fire-works and military tactics. 
But in comparison with what actually took place — measured by the elo- 
quence and the enthusiasm which inspired the street urchin as well as 
the official orator — words express nothing. But after four days of fes- 
tivities, conducted in the most impressive and brilliant manner ever 
known, the World's Columbian Exposition vv^as dedicated, and Columbus 
was vindicated." 

Once at the gates of the Exposition, however, the guests determined 
to drive to the "city," and begin their travels at the Fair early the next 
day, deciding, also, to approach it from the most picturesque point of 
view— the Lake Front, At this point of the narrative our friends scatter, 
but the reader will be taken the rounds, nevertheless. 




PEN PICTURES OF THE FAIR. 



THE CITY IN ITS BEST CLOTHES. 

^HE World's Fair City, during the holding of the Exposition, had 
donned its gala attire. The streets themselves were a sight long 
to be remembered, gaily decked as they were with bunting and 
enlivened by the bright-colored uniforms of the soldiery of this, 
as well as European countries. The scarlet fez of the Turk, the 
turban of the merchant from the Orient and the colored cos- 
tumes of the other visitors, mingling on the sidewalks, gazing up at the 
Masonic Temple, with its twenty stories, or the more massive Audito- 
rium, formed a picture alike pleasing to the eye and flattering to the 
city. The police regulations were so perfect that the great masses of 
the people were kept in constant motion, and accidents were of exceed- 
ingly rare occurrence. The sign, "keep to the right," posted promi- 
nently at different places, in all languages, told the stranger from every 
clime his duty. The peddler had found his way hither from far-away 
Roumania, from Cairo, from Port Said and from Constantinople, and was 
offering for sale holy relics or religious mementoes cut from the sacred 
wood of Mount Olivet, or mined from the jasper fields of Roumania. 
High above the din of all, however, comes the toot of the steamboats, 
landing or taking on passengers for the Exposition grounds. With the 
crowd that is now surging towards the Lake Front, goes the humble 
narrator of a great event. 

The steamboat transportation company had built a number of piers 
several hundred feet out into the lake. The edge of the water was, for 
fifty feet from the landing-place, protected from a crush of people by 
being railed in, and only those with tickets for the Exposition grounds 
were allowed to pass through. The regulation fare was a nickel. Once 
on one of these numerous steamboats that plied in the harbor, and well 
away from the shore, the scene from the deck was in itself a great treat. 
The motley, although not unruly crowds of people, pouring in on the 
Lake Front, through the wide streets, and the vast numbers that covered 

567 



THE APPROACH TO THE FAIR, 569 

the park, would at first attract attention, but only for a short time. 
Looming up in grandeur was the great Auditorium building, from every 
window a streamer and from every corner a flag. The parapet of the 
Signal Observ^atory Tower was draped in the flags of all nations, and at 
that height presented a glowing mass of colors. Crowds poured in and 
out of the great Art Palace, originally intended for Jackson Park, but 
afterwards built on the Lake Front, where it will remain a lasting monu- 
ment to Chicago taste and enterprise, and one of the great permanent 
outcomes of the Exposition. It may now be called her Reception Pal- 
ace, and many great characters have already met there to perfect their 
plans for the various world's congresses which are soon to assemble. 
Away down Michigan avenue, as far as the eye could reach, the same 
glowing appearance was maintained. One mass of humanity surged 
past the pretentious dwellings. The steamboat was freighted with a load 
of pleasure-seekers, talking in almost all the tongues of Babel. But 
through all the animated discussions ran, evidently, a vein of pleasure 
and amazement, and the word "Chicago," though pronounced in a thou- 
sand different tongues, was still easily recognizable. 

THE APPROACH TO THE FAIR. 

All around, the surface of the water, until well out of the harbor^ 
was covered with small pleasure craft or other passenger vessels. Once 
outside the breakwater, and headed south, what lake craft we meet are 
mostly all engaged in passenger service between the city and the Fair. 
Strains of music now and then come across the water from a passing 
craft. Well out in the lake, the vessel heads almost due south, and only 
the general outlines of the shore are visible. Way off south, with its 
head among the clouds, is seen the Proctor Tower, the herald of the 
great display beneath. For several miles it remains alone, its gigantic 
proportions looming up even as the steamboat leaves the Lake Front 
harbor. Drawing nearer, the outlines of the harbor at the site begin to 
appear; the great tower assumes a more definite shape; a large, black 
hull, with streamers floating from its masts, looks as if closely hugging 
the shore; numerous black specks seem in constant motion on the surface 
of the water; what appear to be dark lines run out on the water, and lo! 
as the mind is wondering what it all means, the black specks become 
busy passenger steamers; the shapeless hull resolves itself into a gigan- 
tic Man-of-War; the dark lines running out from the shore become 
jetties; and as the mind takes it partly in, but is still bewildered with a 



570 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



sense of awe, the strains of martial music break on the ear, the vast 
buildings come into view, and the visitor sees before him the great 
Columbian Exposition of 1893. 

THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE FAIR. 
The approach to the Fair by way of the harbor is the most im- 
pressive and inspiring which can be imagined. As we approach the 



Alap of 

Jackson Parlr 



1893. 

i 




shore our eyes are attracted by the beautiful semi-circular bridge which 
spans the mouth of the grand lagoon, which here enters the lake. On 
this bridge stand thirteen exquisite isolated columns, representing the 
thirteen original States of the Union, each one bearing over its capital 
the coat of arms of the commonwealth it symbolizes. Under this bridge 
the boats of all nations pass to and fro into the vast water-ways of the 
Fair grounds. From the south end of this line of columns the great 
pier extends out into the lake a distance of fifteen hundred feet, 
taking at that distance a turn of several hundred feet to the southward, 



THE FAIR'S GRAND AVENUE. 57 1 

and having at its extremity (rising from the water on a stone foundation) 
an immense Greek pavilion, its graceful roofs, or awnings, gaily colored 
and adorned. Here numerous visitors are seen enjoying the cooling 
lake breezes, listening to the music and obtaining a magnificent view of 
the great Exposition buildings and other shore attractions. Not the least 
of these is the gigantic battle-ship, constructed on piling, protected by a 
breakwater, surrounded by water and apparently moored to a wharf. 
From the batde-ship, at times, comes the invigorating strains of the 
Washington Marine Band, which scarcely die away before the last notes 
are gathered up by some colossal outburst of the Thomas Orchestra, or 
the Tomlins Chorus, from the superb Music Hall on the Exposition 
grounds. Not far away from this model ship of the line are not only a 
life-saving station in active operation, but a little Columbian fleet has 
cast anchor, seemingly just from Spain. Near by, also, are a clean-cut 
revenue cutter and several portentous torpedo boats. To get a view 
of such attractions, the dense crowds which swarm along the shore flow 
out upon the jetties. 

THE FAIR'S GRAND AVENUE. 

As the .boat draws up at the landing by the pier, something more 
than a confused view of massive and elegant structures, domes, pagodas, 
towers, flags, streamers and general magnificence is at length presented. 
It is scarcely conceivable that the beauties and grandeurs of landscape 
and structural architecture, which begin to unfold the moment the visitor 
steps upon the pier, are the creations of only three years. Jn these 
final triumphs, however, is seen the wisdom of selecting for the main 
site of the Exposition a tract of wooded and diversified land, in which 
nature had already partially dug the beds of the lagoons and traced the 
courses of the canals around which the great structures are now 
grouped with an air of almost conscious dignity and confidence. 

The creators of the Fair, moreover, with rare judgment, had placed 
in direct line of the grand approach from the lake their master-piece of 
art — an architectural perspective, or vista, which has never been equaled 
at any of the World's Fairs. Extending westward is a long, broad ave- 
nue, several hundred feet in width, the central portions occupied by a 
charming sheet of water, connected with the harbor. In the foreground 
are a beautiful bridge and an heroic statue of Columbus. Beyond is a gen- 
erous basin, from which canals branch each way. 

Far beyond is the pride of American architects, the Administration 



SOUTHERN END OF THE SITE. 573 

Building, fronting a grand court. Toward the north is the great struc- 
ture devoted to a display of the manufactures and liberal arts of the 
world. While not so pretentious, architecturally, as the former, it is 
justly spoken of as the Main Building. Nearly one-third of a mile long 
by 788 feet in width, with its great dome over the central entrance, it 
conveys the appropriate impression of strength and simple grace. Upon 
the other side of the basin is the Agricultural Building, 800x500 feet; 
rectangular in form, but elaborately ornamented with statues and other 
relief work. This structure is connected with Machinery Hall by a 
horseshoe arcade, which doubles a branch of the lagoon. It is almost 
identical with it in the matter of size and cost, but differs considerably 
in appearance, being "serious, impressive and rich in architectural line 
and detail," 

Opposite Machinery Hall and north of it, in the center of this long 
avenue — at the end of this wonderful vista of nearly a mile — stands the 
Administration Building. Beyond all cavil, this is one of the most im- 
posing and, in proportion to its size, the most expensive one of the large 
structures. It is stately and simple, yet exceedingly striking in appear- 
ance, and an excellent representation of Italian Renaissance. It cost 
1650,000, is adorned with scores of statuary figures and surmounted by 
a gilded dome rising 250 feet, or about the height of the Auditorium 
tower. 

To the northward of the Administration Building, on either side, 
and facing the grand avenue, are two immense buildings — one for the 
Electrical and the other for the Mining exhibits. Each covers a little 
over five and a half acres. The Electrical Building cost 1650,000, while 
that for the Mining exhibit cost $350,000. 

A BIT OF NATURE. 

Now, north of these, on the main lagoon, the visitor sees an island 
of about thirty acres, kept as wild and primitive as possible. It is a 
relief to cross to its shores and wander through a miniature "forest 
primeval," pathless and untransformed by art, hunting the fragrant wild 
flower or the saucy chipmunk. 

SOUTHERN END OF THE SITE. 

Proceeding from the Administration Building still further westward, 
or, more accurately, south westward, the visitor is brought to the great 



574 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Structure which, while furnishing power for both Hghting purposes and 
for operating machinery, is also used as a passenger depot. The build- 
ing is surrounded by a loop of six railroad tracks, which at this point 
sweep into the grounds at the extreme southwest portion, entering and 
leaving at nearly the same point. This main power house within the loop 
is a huge body, covering several acres. It is used to contain the overflow 
exhibits from Machinery Hall, with which it is connected by subways. 

To the southward of the line of buildings which are ranged along 
the grand avenue is an open space of sixty-three acres, which is devoted 
to the Live Stock exhibits. Here immense buildings have been erected, 
as well as a spacious show ring. The crowd in this neighborhood is 
always very dense. 

GOING NORTH. 

Jackson Park is, in form, a right-angled triangle, and so far the 
visitor on his tour of inspection has traversed the lake shore, or hypothe- 
nuse of the triangle, and across the southern end or base. Now, he turns 
toward the north and notes the structures ranged along the perpendicu- 
lar. The first one to be encountered is the Transportation Building. 
It is Romanesque in style and one of the largest of all, measuring 1,020 
by 260 feet, exclusive of a great annex in the rear. Together with the 
depots, it cost 1 1,000,000. North of this is the Horticultural Hall, 
another immense structure, 1,000x250, with three domes — one at each 
end and a larger one in the center. It is constructed mainly of glass 
and iron, and #250,000 has been expended upon it. 

THE WOMAN'S PALACE. 

Still further north, and direcdy opposite the park entrance of Mid- 
way Plaisance, stands the Woman's Building, which is certainly one of 
the chief objects of interest in the grounds. It was designed by a lady 
architect — Miss Sophia G. Hayden, of Boston, a Chilean by birth, but 
coming of an old Massachusetts family and being thoroughly grounded 
in the principles of architecture. The dimensions of the building are 
400x200 feet; the cost is $250,000; the style, Italian Renaissance. The 
corner and center pavilions are connected in the first story by an open 
arcade, surmounted by classic vases. There are double pilasters on the 
corners of the pavilions. The second-story curtains are recessed, with 
windows opening on the balcony of the first-story arcade. The center 
pavilion contains the main entrance of the building, and the entire palace 



WATER PALACES AND TALALlAl, AQUARIA. 575 

is covered with a low Italian roof. Here the Lady Managers have their 
headquarters. 

Beyond the Woman's Temple — the Temple itself, and all that it con- 
tains, being the work of her mind or her hands — is the embodiment of 
the enterprise, the wealth, the generosity and the genius of the people 
of Illinois, who did so much to make the Fair what it is. Their build- 
ing (430x160 feet), with its speaking dome, stands northwest of the main 
system of lagoons, and south of the eighty or ninety acres, just beyond 
that charming system, which is devoted to the exhibits of other States 
and of foreign countries. 

WATER PALACES AND PALATIAL AQUARIA- 

South and east of the tract covered by the State and foreign exhib- 
its, and just beyond the wooded island, the lagoons and canals become 
more intricate and enclose a number of small islands. These, however, 
are far from being in a state of nature. East of the Woman's and Illi- 
nois buildings, and directly west of the channel by which the lagoons 
connect with Lake .Michigan in this northern portion of the site, is the 
largest of the islands, and upon it is a Romanesque, or Spanish-looking 
structure, warm with color, and fully 700 feet in length. The main 
building is connected by curved arcades, with a circular aquarium at 
either end. Through their clear waters an entrancing spectacle is pre- 
sented of marine animals and marine plants, forests and mountains. The 
most secret habits of the creatures of both ocean and river may be stud- 
ied, the buildings being those of the United States Fish Commission, a 
department or bureau of the National Government. 

South of these attractions, upon the mainland, and in direct line with 
the vast structure given up to the manufacturers, rises the classical fea- 
tures, of ^apparent stone, iron and glass, called the Government Building, 
and beyond it, toward the east and the lake shore, are the land batteries, 
life-saving station, the war-ship and other sights which have been already 
witnessed from the deck. 

North of the Fisheries Building, upon one of the small islands at 
the extremity of the lagoon system, is a steel and glass wonder, of cir- 
cular form, 250 feet in diameter, its massive foundation apparently in the 
water, the structure rising upon a series of pillars and cornices to the 

*The writer uses the word "apparent" with forethought, and will explain, for the benefit of the un- 
informed, that what seems like massive blocks of granite, beautifully polished marble slabs and pillars, 
fine pressed brick and terra-cotta work, is, in reality, an exhibition of that wonderful French invention 
called staff — a fire proof composition of gypsum and cement, having wood as its base. 



VENICE OUTDONE. 



577 



base of the enormous, transparent dome which surmounts it. The 
dome, in turn, is covered with a moving sheet of water, illuminated by 
electric and colored light. At the summit of this world of water are 
three vessels, such as were captained by the Great Discoverer, and capa- 
ble of accommodating several hundred persons at a time. Here, 250 
feet above the earth, the visitor seems to see beneath him a globe of 
shimmering water, with wide promenades running around the base of the 
dome. Within are historical collections and cool halls of retreat. The 
entire palace, in fact, is a symphony of light, natural and artificial alike. 

VENICE OUTDONE. 

Here, from the deck of one of these Columbian caravels, if one can 
withdraw his gaze from the gallant Columbian Tower to the west, and the 
noble lake to the east, and the superb array of palaces and peoples to 
the south and all around — if one can forget all this, and from this serene 
and lofty point of view fix his attention upon merely one feature of all 
this wonderful panorama, he does well indeed. Let us, at all events, 
before we leave them finally in our ramble, take a sweeping view of the 
lagoons and fix them in our mind's eye, for they have done much to make 
this Fair an artistic and social success. All in all, they embrace a stretch 
of land considerably over a mile in length, and from 100 to 300 feet in 
breadth. As stated, they connect with the lake, through the harbor, 
east of the fascinating fish display and between the Manufactures and 
Agricultural buildings. The gay waters are set in grassy plats, sloping 
down gently to meet their ripples, and fringed with broad walks of stone 
and gravel. Both rustic and pretentious bridges of staff, some of them 
apparently of granite, variegated marble and other stone, cross the 
lagoons and the canals at convenient points. Little pleasure boats of all 
epochs and nations dart hither and thither, enter the grand basin from 
the glittering and animated harbor, shooting under the bridge and past 
the serene statue of Columbia, with the thirteen States, sweep along the 
shores of the seething court which so superbly sets off the beauties of 
the Administration palace, then turning and leaving all this behind, with 
merry dip of oars, laughter and song, dart between the Electrical Building 
(which has a kind of a weird look about it) and the long, impressive 
Manufacturers' home, and so on to the wooded island and the wonders 
of the Government, the Woman's, the State, the Water and the Foreign 
palaces. Or it may be that the pleasure-seekers and seekers after 
knowledge are bent upon a more quiet and systematic survey of the Fair. 
37 



578 THE world's fair. 

The gondolas and other craft, therefore, stop at commodious landing- 
places, scattered over the site, and find all the attractions grouped around 
and along these convenient water-ways. 

At night, when the electric lights come forth in all their purity, the 
scene, both within the water palace and from it, is even more glorious. 
Above all flashes the bright gleams from the Columbian Tower, while the 
many walks in the park, the buildings, the boats, the steamers in the 
harbor, brilliantly lighted as they are, lay below in quiet peace. The 
great bustle of the day has been stilled, and from some nook in the 
lagoon come the strains of the mandolin, the guitar or the harp, the 
yodle of some one from the land of William Tell, the tuneful singing of 
a party of excursionists from Bremen or the Rhine, or an aria from some 
opera in sweet woman's voice, as a gondola speeds by. Pleasure parties 
proudly carol the songs of their fatherlands, or perhaps some Chinese 
mandarin sends forth a monotonous tum-tum, imagining himself once 
more speeding through the heart of Canton. From prow and stern of 
boats hang gaily-colored lanterns, although the brilliant way in which 
the grounds are lighted obviated the necessity for any such precaution. 
Beautiful effects are produced on the water by the insertion of colored 
globes containing electric lights. The prow of a boat waves one mo- 
ment, cuts through a surface of glittering orange color, then through one 
of crimson, and again through a dark green wave, turning the spray on 
either side as if it were scattering precious stones. 

The branches from the islands in the lagoons hang heavy with 
Chinese lanterns, or incandescent lights, of various colors, artistically ar- 
ranged in the forks of the trees. And under all this glorious massing 
of colors the gay costumes of the European visitors show to fine 
advantage. Venice, in the palmiest days of the Medici, is outdone. 

THE COLUMBIAN TOWER. 

At length, leaving behind the Water Palace and the lagoons, the 
Ilhnois State beauty and the Woman's Home, one turns sharply to the 
west and comes into full view of the great steel Columbian Tower, curving 
gradually and gracefully from its six gigantic supports and rising in a 
series of pavilions to the dome, lifted a thousand and one hundred feet 
into the clear air, this, in turn, being surmounted by a flag-staff, contain- 
ing an ingenious device by which artificial currents of air are made to 
continually play upon the "Stars and Stripes" and keep them ever flung 
to the breeze. The ornamental materials used are principally galvanized 



THE COLUMBIAN TOWER. 



579 



11 on and wire. It may give some idea of the stupendous proportions of 
this leviathan to be informed that upon the first landing, or grand boule- 
vard floor, 200 feet from the Plaisance, 50,000 people may promenade; 
that the inner tower, or litde core, which appears half-way up, will ac- 
commodate 2,000 people, and that the toy-like dome at the apex will 
shelter nearly as many. 

Leaving a description of its interior wonders to another, the pres- 
ent writer at length reached one of the many elevators which were gliding 




ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. 
200 feet high. Cost $650,000. 



ceaselessly over their miles of perpendicular travel. After riding nearly 
a quarter of a mile into the heavens, he was landed in the hall of the 
dome, and looked abroad over the city and lake, almost in the line of 
vision, the grand Exposition lying at his very feet. The entire 586 
acres of Jackson Park, and the harbor and lake beyond, are ready for 
inspection. The grand Plaisance, 600 feet in width and over a mile in 
length, which forms the main approach to the Fair proper by land, 
stretches away on the other hand — a few hundred feet, it seems, of glory. 



580 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Still beyond are the 370 acres of Washington Park — a toy village and a 
patch of brilliancy, fountains and flowers. Still to the west, miles to the 
north and miles to the south is the city — its loftiest spires, its most wide- 
embracing domes, its most triumphant monuments to commerce and trade, 
massing themselves against the northern skies. And as far as the eye 
can sweep, over water or land, there is either movement or color. 

Along the Plaisance and overflowing into Washington Park is a large 
and curious aggregation of foreign and state buildings, intermingled with 
those of semi-private construction. Very many beautiful structures are 
to be seen, many of them reproductions of famous houses of history, or 
exhibit buildings erected by different branches of trade, such as those 
devoted to the music interests, which subscribed liberally for a house of 
their own. One fact is very noticeable in reference to all of the import- 
ant buildings. They stand on terraces, a few feet above the general park 
level, thus greatly improving the landscape effect and rendering their 
own appearance more imposing. The structures have all the appearance 
of magnificent palaces of marble, granite and glass, but are built princi- 
pally of wood and staff; yet the same grandeur of design, beauty of 
finish, evenness of color and solidity are there as attach to the main 
buildings of the Fair — except, of course, in less degree. This can be 
seen from the dome of the Columbian Tower. 

In order, however, to get the full benefit of the unique attractions 
which have overflowed from the main site of the Fair, the rambler takes 
a glide downward and earthward. He may at once fancy himself as 
living in any age or clime; for before him is a street in ancient Rome, 
and just beyond a Pompeiian home, an Arab's tent, an Indian's wigwam, 
a Japanese village with specimens of wonderful landscape gardening, a 
Laplander's hut, an East Indian temple, or a camp of gypsy fortune- 
tellers. Gems of modern architecture, contributed by France, Germany, 
England, Russia, Spain, Italy and other nations, are there. All the 
powers of the earth, of whatever rank, have come to recognize the good 
fellowship and the commanding position of the American Republic. 

The States of our Union are grandly represented, and their resources 
set forth more graphically than they could be advertised in an ocean of 
pamphlets or a library of volumes. The most important and enterprising 
of the States nearly all have special exhibits here, as well as general 
exhibits at Jackson Park. Colorado shouts of her prodigious resources 
through her massive palace, composed entirely of minerals taken from 
her own mines, In outline, the structure represents a castle, the turrets 
affording good opportunities to display the minerals in all their flashing 



THE DRIVING PARK. 



581 



beauty. Inside of this palace are shown the products of the mines and 
the special methods employed in getting them above ground. 

Iowa is represented, agriculturally, by her Corn Palace, towering 
aloft in a sort of fairy-like grandeur. It is surmounted by many lofty 
spires and square towers, rising here and there from points of vantage. 
The entire surface is covered with cereals, the products of the State. 
Corn, grasses, maize, wheat, pumpkins, etc., etc., are used in the deco- 
rating of the exterior, and from them are formed many beautiful designs. 
In the interior, the surface is covered with decorations made entirely 
from cereals, to attempt a description of which would be presumptuous 
in the extreme. Suffice it to say that absolutely nothing but cereals as 
cut from the stalk or plucked from the sod are used, and yet, from a short 
distance, both the exterior and interior of the Corn Palace presents a 
picture as if nature herself had been at work with the colors of the rain- 
bow. 

Leaving the palaces of grain and minerals, the Creston Coal Palace, 
erected on the same general outlines as the Corn Palace, was encoun- 
tered, as well as the Hay Palace, of Momence, Illinois, all of which is 
painting a scene of splendor and delicate beauty with the slobbering 
brush of a bill-poster. But from very despair of doing it justice, it must 
be abruptly deserted. 

THE DRIVING PARK. 

Before leaving behind the bolder features of the Fair and taking up 
the details of administration, an attraction should be noticed which, 
although not, strictly speaking, a portion of the great Exposition, is 
closely joined to it, both as to locality and patronage. 

Near the Live Stock exhibit, at the southern extremity of the Fair, 
is the Gentleman's Driving Park. Here, every afternoon, may be wit- 
nessed great trials of skill and speed. The fine points of the American 
trotter, with his feather-weight yet durable gig, prove a source of endless 
wonder and amusement to the great mass of the European visitors. As 
every one knows, the roads of Europe are not conducive to the breeding 
of a Sunol or a Maud S. The steeple-chasers of England give daily 
proofs of their ability to take to stone walls and high fences as ducks do 
to water, and, in a sense, lessen the apparent superiority of American 
horseflesh. A number of fine specimens of the far-famed Arabian steed 
are seen, their milky whiteness and gentle manners making them the pets 
of the lady visitors. The smallest Shetland pony and the heaviest of 



THE CARE OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. 583 

Clydesdales are daily exhibited, selected from the great number at the 
live stock exhibit near by. In fact, since the creation of the world, such 
a variety of these superb animals has never been brought together, and 
never before have such object lessons been given of their grace, their 
fleetness, their strength, their mettle,their docility and their affection, as 
are being continually witnessed at the Gentleman's Driving Park. Taken 
in connection with the Fair's exhibition of horses, this is one of the most 
popular features of the entire Exposition. 

THE CARE OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. 

When one commences to examine the intricate machinery which 
has been planned and put in motion by the management of the World's 
Fair, it becomes plain why the general headquarters, or the Administra- 
tion Building, should be the center of so much activity and interest; it 
seems more than ever appropriate that the Administration Building 
should be the architectural gem of the Exposition. 

The great problems which have been so perfectly mastered are the 
protection to life and property, and the distribution of visitors, of light 
and of water. There are also a thousand and one details relating to 
the convenience and the pleasure of our guests, which go to form this 
wonderful system, kept oiled, in repair and in operation by the ability 
enthroned at the Administration Building. 

First, the visitor, makes note of the police system. It is evident 
that there is no necessity for the police other than to handle the crowds, 
as expert detectives from all countries closely scrutinize all who enter 
the grounds, and refuse admission to suspicious characters. However, 
members of the metropolitan force stand at the junction of all avenues, 
and near the entrances of all buildings. These men have been selected 
from the many applicants, because of their familiarity with the European 
tongues. A force of mounted police also patrols the grounds. 

Though everything is, in a sense, orderly, and a long line of police 
keep the different vehicles within the limits prescribed, still there is an 
almost overwhelming hubbub and babel of voices. But high above all 
rings out the piping voice of the newsboy. "Here's your evening 
paper! All about the great crush on State street!" "Extra! Evening 
extra! All about the arrival of the Shah of Persia!" "Here's your 
World's Fair Guide!" "Program of all the theatres!" etc., etc. 

It is believed that the staff, and the more solid material of which 
the foundations of buildings are constructed, are fire-proof, but in order 



584 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



that every precaution may be taken, a fire department service is estab- 
lished near the g-rounds. Although it may not be called upon, the en- 
gines, hose carts, hooks and ladders, eager horses, and the parlor-like 
cleanliness of the entire apparatus form an exhibit in themselves which 
attracts large crowds of foreign friends. Occasionally, also, illustrations 
are given of the promptness with which the department could respond 
and bring the saving torrents of water to bear upon a conflagration. 




ELECTRICAL BUILDING. 
350x700 feet, covers five and a half acres. Cost 1650,000. 



A frolicking party may occasionally get turned over into the harbors 
or the lagoons, but either policemen or members of the life saving ser- 
vice are always within reach if their assistance is required. 

True to their practical wisdom and good hearts, the Lady Man- 
agers have selected a grand central point in the grounds at which inter- 
preters are stationed, and to which all lost guests, whether children, or 
elders, are conducted. A hospital, established near by, is under the es- 
pecial patronage of the Board of Lady Managers. It frequently hap- 
pens that in the great crushes women faint, or perhaps receive serious 



MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION, 585 

injuries. Whenever this is the case, however, the ambulance corps 
comes immediately to the rescue, and prompt assistance is rendered. 

WATER AND LIGHT. 

Fountains innumerable play all over the grounds. No matter where 
the visitor turns he encounters the flowing faucet and the waiting cup. 
The water is supplied from two 12,000,000 gallon pumps at Sixty eighth 
street. They were erected by the city of Chicago for the needs of the 
Exposition, at a cost of $100,000. During the Fair the company has ex- 
clusive right to use the pumps, paying the city $20 per million gallons of 
water furnished. When the Fair closes the city acquires the pumping 
outfit by repaying the sum advanced without interest. 

The light for the grounds is furnished from the power house within 
the transportation loop. Electric lights are placed at the distance of 200 
feet apart, and these, with the illumination coming from the buildings, 
make the grounds as easily viewed as by day. The cost of lighting will 
be $425,000. 

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. 

No one feature of the Fair's management causes more surprise and 
delight than the absence of friction in the handling of the vast crowds 
both without and within the Exposition grounds. The traveler may come 
by carriage, by cable, or by rail, and be carried from one section to another 
on the elevated roads which connect and penetrate the buildings, or fol- 
low the broad ways which surround them. Or he may arrive by steamer 
from the lake, and board one of the gay boats which glide from building 
to building along the lagoons. 

All passenger railways, whether steam, cable, electric or horse, enter 
the park at the southwest corner, though some of them have stations at 
the Midway Plaisance or other convenient places outside the grounds. 
Those roads entering the inclosure deliver passengers inside the Admin- 
istration Building. From this place an intramural electric elevated road 
passes out through the grounds, entering buildings where deemed advisa- 
ble and having convenient stations wherever necessary. It connects 
with the station at the Midway Plaisance and passes back to the Admin- 
istration Building by another route, thus forming a complete circuit and 
making it easy to go from one place to another without walking. 

Visitors once in the Fair come out of the Administration station 
upon the great square, where all the spaces are very broad, affording 



586 THE world's fair. 

ample room for the gathering or dispersing of large crowds. Wheeled 
chairs are always kept in attendance here. The buildings are impressive 
in appearance when viewed from this court, and to make them even more 
so, and also to afford protection when the weather is inclement, a grand 
open arcade incloses this space, except toward the lake, and connects the 
buildings, so that visitors may safely go from place to place in any 
weather. 

The elevated electric railroad used for intramural transit is known 
as the Adams Single Track Elevated Railway. This system employs 
but a single track, which is carried on single columns, and presents as 
little obstruction as is possible, while occupying the minimum of space. 
No trains are run, but very frequent single cars. Each car carries an 
engineer, but no conductor. The station platforms are in charge of a 
gateman, and fares are paid before entering the cars. The use of a single 
car instead of a train allows of a great reduction in time required in start- 
ing from rest to full speed, as well as stopping at stations, so that a net 
average speed of twenty miles an hour is attained. 

The construction of the elevated structure and the cars is as follows: 
The columns supporting the superstructure are about fourteen feet in 
height, set forty feet apart. These columns are set in concrete eight feet 
deep in the ground. Such a structure sustains a moving load of twenty 
tons a car, including the dead and live loads. This construction is 
figured on a basis of a maximum carrying capacity of 279,000 passengers 
a day. Each motor is regularly furnished with electricity to the amount 
of fifty horse power, which may be increased one-half. Fifteen incan- 
descent lights illumine each car. The intramural line has stations about 
one thousand feet apart, conveniently distributed in the park and Midway 
Plaisance. 

Within the enclosures of the grounds no private vehicles are 
allowed; the transportation from building to building is effected by either 
the intramural railway, just described, or the pleasure boats on the 
lagoons. The crowds are so dense that it would have been positively 
dangerous to permit the presence of any vehicles. Sedan chairs, as 
a curiosity, are seen in places, many of them representing those in use 
in England a couple of hundred years ago. One can ride in them on 
the payment of a dime. On certain paths, however, bicycles and tricy- 
cles are allowed, but they are confined to the driveways bordering 
the lake shore. Here the marvelous dexterity of the wheelmen is 
apparent, and friendly races are indulged in between rival American as 
well as rival European clubs. A French electrician may be seen 



THE RETURN TRIP. ^87 

running- his tricycle by means of a newly perfected storage battery. Next 
a daring Washingtonian rushes by astride a single wheel to the infinite 
amazement of a party of Russians. And so the list of private and re- 
markable means of transportation might be stretched to an indefinite 
length. 




THE MINING BUILDING. 

350x700 feet — covering over five and a half acres; cost, $350 

THE RETURN TRIP. 



And now for the trip "down town." Near the many exits stand 
interpreters, who answer all questions put by the visitors. The peddler, 
who has been excluded from the grounds, is there in all his glory, with 
everything imaginable to sell, from a history of the Exposition, bird's- 
eye views of the grounds and gaily-colored lithographs of the Columbian 
Tower, to a button from the coat of George Washington, the best 
blacking, and the surest hair restorer. Opposite the long line of the 
Fair enclosure, while the buildings were numerous and put to almost 
every conceivable use, there was a noticeable absence of anything 



5^8 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

unsightly and cheap. This must be credited to the City Council, which, in 
January of 189 1, passed an ordinance regulating the construction of such 
buildings. Although within the grounds there are cafes of different 
nations, still the restaurants without are very numerous indeed, and of a 
very respectable kind. 

No matter where the visitor turns, he will be within half a block of 
some of the many depots erected by the different railroads, which 
further on enter the grounds on the great loop already referred to. But 
however great the crush, it is evident that the police are still masters of 
the situation. From three o'clock to seven p. m. and from nine to twelve 
o'clock, trains leave the site every two minutes. At other hours of the 
day transportation to the city is to be had by railway every five minutes, 
and by cable almost continuously. 

A cable train leaving at the moment of his exit from the grounds, 
the narrator boarded it and returned to the city. The ride occupied 
forty minutes, but it was a most interesting one, as the mind was engaged 
in watching the streams of pedestrians, and noting the large hotels 
erected but a short time. A considerable number of the excursionists 
had found rooms in these, or else in the numerous residences in the 
vicinity that for a short but money-making period had been transformed 
into common boarding-houses. Signs were everywhere to be seen tell- 
ing the Germans, the Frenchmen, the Italians and others that their 
language was spoken within and that one of their countrymen kept the 
hostelry. It was noted that a certain class of visitors more frequently 
patronized the cable than other lines, for the reason that it afforded them 
more of a novelty, being essentially an American contrivance, and very 
rarely seen abroad. Every few blocks the car was boarded by interpret- 
ers, in the employ of the company, who were notified by the conductor 
if they were required to answer any question put to him. This was one 
of the most convenient features, and among the most appreciated by the 
guests of Chicago, as it gave them a sense of security and a knowledge 
that they could at all times be understood. At first, much trouble was 
experienced by the offering of foreign coins as payment for street-car 
fare. The immediate establishment of several bureaus of exchange, 
however, obviated this difficulty. So great was the crowd lining Cottage 
Grove avenue, Wabash avenue and other streets along the route, that it 
seemed as if one had driven into some city of 50,000 inhabitants on circus 
day, and just before the parade commenced. 

Once down town, the mind became so confused that the memory 
was all but paralyzed; nevertheless, a few general facts were noted. It 



590 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

had not been the custom, previous to the opening of the Fair, for the 
great stores to remain open very long after supper, but, in many, a double 
force of clerks was now employed, and all remained open until ten 
o'clock, many not closing until eleven. 

The theatres were all densely packed. Going into the Auditorium 
and looking from the gallery, the spectator saw beneath him a mass of 
people which would be equivalent to the population of a small city. 
Grand opera was having a run and the glorious tenor of Tamagno 
rolled out over the little world of beating hearts. Officials in gilded 
uniforms, attaches from foreign courts, members of embassies, almost 
every one in full dress; royalty, aristocracy and democracy all blended 
under the magic wand of the musician. And such was the triumph of 
genius in every prominent place of amusement. Good nature and char- 
ity ruled the hour and the season. Chicago and her guests were in 
close communion. "Good will upon earth and peace among men" was 
the text endorsed by two million proud residents and happy visitors 
within this fair city of this Columbian Exposition. 



UNCLE SAM'S EXHIBIT. 




A SHORT PRELIMINARY. 

F the many nations represented at the Paris Exposition, America, 
the greatest of them all, made the poorest exhibit. Europeans 
laughed it to ridicule, and Americans blushed for shame. It 
was this state of affairs that primarily suggested the Exposition 
to influential and intelligent citizens, both West and East. 
Uncle Sam, smarting under the ridicule at Paris^ was determined 
to be glorified in the exhibit made at Chicago. As a consequence, the 
Government was very liberal in the appropriations made for that purpose. 
Among other things, it was provided in the Congressional act that there 
should be exhibited by the Government, from its executive departments, 
the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Fish Commission and the 
National Museum, such articles and materials as would illustrate the 
functions and administrative faculty of the Government in time of peace, 
and its resources as a war power — all tending to demonstrate the nature 
of our institutions and their adaptation to the wants of the people. The 
board chosen was charged with the selection, preparation and arrange- 
ment, safe-keeping and exhibition of the collections. 

Now, let us see how nobly the original plan has been carried out. 
The Government Building, covering an area of 350x450 feet, is con- 
structed solely of iron, brick, staff and glass. Its leading feature is an 
octagonal dome in the center, while the style of the architecture is clas- 
sical, bastions on the corner — relieving the dead line of the facades. 

The department exhibits are distributed as follows: On entering 
the building by the west main entrance, the exhibit of the Department 
of Justice is reached, being displayed in a long narrow room, opening 
into the dome. On the south side of this room is the War Department, 
and to the north, that of the Interior. South of the dome is the space 
for the Agricultural exhibit, and north, that for the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion. In the northwest corner is the space allotted to the Fish Commis- 

59' 



THE AGRICULTURAL EXHIBTr, 593 

sion, while in the southwest room are the Treasury and Post-office 
departments. The main entrance of this great building resembles some- 
what the Arc de Triomphe, at Paris. The annexes to the structure afford 
50,000 additional feet of floor space, which accommodate among other 
unique exhibits, that of the Military Hospital. Uncle Sam, outside of 
the cost of his building, spent $r, 000,000 on his exhibits. 

THE AGRICULTURAL EXHIBIT. 

But to pass to a consideration of the different department exhibits, 
and what the government has done to enlighten the visitors from other 
countries. The Secretary of Agriculture afforded every possible sup- 
port to the gathering of specimens illustrative of the agricultural 
resources of this vast country, and a great exhibition has therefore been 
prepared of the various kinds of cereals, fruits, vegetables and grasses. 
The series illustrating the modification of crops by soil and climate proves 
a most interesting portion of the display, not only to farmers, but to the 
general public. The chemistry division of this great department picks 
your food to pieces and tells you what it is made of. In fact, the visitor 
and stranger may learn here, by the floral, horticultural and agricultural 
display of American products of the soil, by samples of seeds, reports 
of the department, exhibitions of obnoxious insects and fungi and speci- 
mens of their destructive work, what a broad and useful field of labor is 
filled by the Agricultural Department. Other divisions of the depart- 
ment illustrate, by large and beautifully prepared maps, the distribution 
of animals and vegetables in the United 'States, and their intimate con- 
nection. 

The magnificent extent and value of our forests have never before 
been so demonstrated as by the special exhibit put forth by this depart- 
ment. From Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin and California to Georgia, 
Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana; from the 
pine forests of the Ottawa, the Alleghanies, the Mississippi Valley and 
Chili, the monsters of California and the mahogany forests of Northern 
South America, to the wonderful woods of Australia and India, the speci- 
mens are collected, prepared and arranged as to utility and beauty. The 
redwood of California especially draws the crowds. The section on ex- 
hibition came from Tulare County, and was cut from a tree which meas- 
ured 99 feet in circumference at the base and was 312 feet high. The 
distance from the ground to the first limb, which was three feet in diame- 
ter, was 172 feet. This tree was supposed to be 3,000 years old. 



THE NAVAL AND WAR EXHIBITS. 595 

The Weather Bureau was formerly under control of the War De- 
partment, but was transferred to the Agricultural, in July, 1891. The 
workings of the Bureau are hourly illustrated by the giving out of re- 
ports to visitors, with explanations, if required. In the very clouds, also, 
near the pinnacle of the great Columbian Tower, is a branch of the 
United States Signal Service, hourly sending its indications to the Bureau 
in the Government Building, and displaying its tell-tale flags to hundreds 
of thousands of people — some on land and some far out on the lake. 

THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT. 

In the Department of the Interior may be seen samples of clothing 
and food furnished the Indians, with large maps showing where are the 
principal reservations, and intelligent officials in attendance to explain the 
government policy. The Indian Bureau and the Bureau of Ethnology 
furnish much of the material to illustrate the primitive savage and the 
progress of the American Indian in agricultural and industrial pursuits. 
At the headquarters of the Bureau of Education, information may be 
obtained about schools for Indians and colored children, industrial, tech- 
nical and normal schools, kindergartens, compulsory laws, and the gath- 
ering of educational statistics. The geology of the United States is 
studied by means of a large map, with specimens of soil, rocks and min- 
erals as practical illustrations. The General Land Office furnishes a map 
which tells with startling force how much of the original domain has been 
granted to railroads and how much is left to the people. Those who are 
interested in the workings of the Pension Office — the largest bureau of 
the Department of the Interior — may examine them here in the series of 
papers and books exhibited for that purpose. 

The Patent Office makes a vast display of the inventive genius of 
the American people. Some of the most important of the models and 
the drawings of machines invented since we became a nation are here 
seen, so that one is able to trace the development of any kind of 
mechanism in which he is interested. The collection would be even 
larger than it is had not two fires in the Patent Office destroyed thou- 
sands of models and drawings. 

THE NAVAL AND WAR EXHIBITS. 

The great naval exhibit speaks well for the rapid strides which have 
been made by the American Navy during the past few years. At the 
foot of Fifty- ninth street, moored to a pier built out into the lake, is an 



596 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

exact duplicate of an American man-of-war, equipped in the most modern 
fashion and containing on its several decks the different appliances now 
in use in naval warfare. The use of torpedoes, and the many ways in 
which electricity is made to do service at sea, in lighting, heating, tele- 
graphing, etc., are all amply illustrated. The vessel is manned as usual, 
and daily drills are given, showing the actual life of the American sea- 
man. On the third deck is a regular museum of curios, in connection 
with the naval battles of American history A gallery of all the great 
admirals, and models of historic boats (the Monitor, Merrimac and 
others) are items among the many attractions. Along the shore are seen 
sections of fortifications, while at the point of the pier are a lighthouse 
and life-saving service outfit, manned by a picked crew from the United 
States Naval Academies. It is well to mention that on board the dupli- 
cate man-of war (which, by the way, is called the "Chicago"), are several 
crews from the United States Naval Academies, and the method of 
training boys for sea service is being continuously exemplified. This 
wonderful model is built of brick, coated with cement, or of staff, is 348 
feet long, sixty-nine feet amidships, and supplied, as stated, with all the 
fittings and apparatus that belong to the most approved war vessel, such 
as guns, turrets, torpedo tubes, torpedo nets and booms, boats and 
anchors. On the shore, close to the battle ship, the Government has 
placed a gun battery, life-saving station, complete with apparatus, a light- 
house, and war balloons. Of the workings of these, examples are given 
every day. 

The War exhibit, which is placed in the same class as that of the 
Navy, was very readily prepared, inasmuch as its component parts had 
been ready for some time. 

From the Ordnance Museum of the War Department came models 
of rifles, revolvers, cannon, balls, etc., in use, with relics of earlier days; 
from the Quartermaster's Department, models and pictures of tents, bar- 
racks, storehouses, hospitals, etc.; from the Medical Museum (an institu- 
tion which has not a second), thousands of photographs illustrating the 
diseases and wounds of war, with their treatment, a display of modern 
and ancient surgical instruments, and models of ambulances and railroad 
cars. The Naval Museum gives a vivid picture of the manufacture of 
all naval appliances, and over its collection of relics one lingers with 
amused satisfaction. 

The displays of improved small arms are very complete, as well as 
exhibitions of the giant guns. Not only is the visitor shown how 
cartridges are made, but models of the most scientific engineering works 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 597 

are in this museum, flags and guns from the battlefields of our four wars, 
and portraits of our famous military leaders. 

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

The greatest of the scientific institutions — practical as well as sci- 
entific — which is connected with the government is the Smithsonian. In 
short, whatever portion of sea and land can be reached by the Govern- 
ment of the United States is within the direct scientific jurisdiction of the 
Smithsonian Institute. From Alaska to Patagonia, and from Labrador 
to the Argentine country are agents of the Signal Service, Coast Survey, 
consuls and naval officers, as well as paid servants of the Institute, ran- 
sacking earth and water for material upon which to build the truths of 
natural and historic development. 

Government expeditions of the United States which are sent upon 
missions quite foreign to the development of science and the increase of 
knowledge, seldom fail to remember the Smithsonian Institute. In fact, 
the Institute has the American trait of refusing to be forgotten. As an 
example, when the Government sent out the Greely relief expeditions in 
1882-4, among their members were a number of naval ensigns whom the 
Istitute had trained in photography, taxidermy, and the collection of 
minerals and fossils. Not only, therefore, was the prime object of the 
expeditions accomplished, but science and knowledge were the gainers in 
valuable collections of natural history and many photographs vividly 
descriptive of the country and the natives. 

From the above, it will be seen how futile it would be to attempt to 
give a detailed description of the vast exhibit of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion. But all the experience gained by it in arranging exhibits for the 
Centennial of 1876, the Louisville and Cincinnati Expositions of 1883, 
the New Orleans Cotton Exposition of 1884, and the Berlin and London 
Fisheries Expositions during the same years — all of the experience thus 
gained, and the collections made to meet the demands of those occasions, 
made the management better able to perform this last supreme act. Not 
only by its own exhibit, but by the assistance which its officials have 
rendered to other departments, has the Smithsonian Institution proved 
one of the strongest educational forces in the Columbian Exposition 
of 1893. 

THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 

The world at large will be greatly interested in the exhibit of the 
Treasury Department. Of course, in this, the Bureau of Engraving and 



OTHER DEPARTMENT EXHIBITS. 



599 



Printing- plays a prominent and most interesting part. It shows how 
paper money and revenue stamps are printed, as well as the manner in 
which the engraved plates for them are made up. The workings of the 
mint are fully illustrated, and the production of the coin, from the smelt- 
ing of the ore to its stamping and the milling of its edges. Such in- 
formation, also, as may safely be made public is furnished as to the 
means taken to protect the coin and currency of the country, and to 
detect counterfeiting — thus pointing to the secret service of this depart- 
ment. A most interesting collection is that of captured counterfeit notes, 
coins, plates, dies and molds, with photographs of noted criminals in this 
line — a collection which illustrates how much artistic, mechanical and 
chemical genius is put to criminal uses. The Treasury Department has 
its collections of coins and paper money, from colonial days to the pres- 
ent; also models and photographs of its gigantic vaults. As the milling 
machine is an American invention, it is here exhibited bodily. You may 
also examine plans of all the government buildings and maps of coast 
surveys, etc., thus learning that these matters are controlled by the 
Treasury Department. 

On the lake shore, as stated, arrangements have been made for a 
daily exhibition of the life-saving service, and victims hired for the pur- 
pose are rescued in a most realistic manner. 

OTHER DEPARTMENT EXHIBITS. 

The American post-office system is, at least, not rivaled in complete- 
ness by any other, and visitors from both hemispheres are afforded a fine 
chance to examine the practical workings of the department, from the 
time letters are deposited in the mail boxes until received. The distri- 
bution of mail on trains, use of pneumatic tubes in the collection, and 
operations of the stamp departments, weighing and carrier service, all 
come in for their share of attention. A stamped-envelope machine is a 
mechanism which is also shown. Object lessons are given daily in the 
workings of the money order departments. In fact, we have a first-class 
post-office here in active operation — not only that, but postal exhibits from 
Great Britain, Germany, France and other countries. The latter, of 
course, are not so extensive as our own, but are sufficiently complete 
to illustrate the different systems of the world and demonstrate that 
every nation might make improvements. 

The State Department presents many interesting papers, such as 
Washington's commission as commander-in-chief of the army; autograph 



600 THE world's FAIR. 

letters from Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and the crowned 
monarchs of the world, and treaties made with the nations of the two 
hemispheres, a ponderous European state paper lying side by side with 
a gorgeous silken document from Japan. 

It will thus be seen that although the state department is the most 
cosmopolitan in its outside relations, the actual collection which can be 
drawn from its archives is the smallest. But every article has attached 
to it not only a personal but a dignified interest, and in examing the 
autographs of dead and living statesmen, kings and queens, one realizes, 
with pride, not only the brilliant array of American statesmanship, but 
the vast power of the nation. 



CLASSIFIED AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS. 




PLAN OF OPERATIONS. 

^HE Government Building and exhibits occupy, as they should, 
a central position at Jackson Park. Until the Government put 
its stamp upon the Fair it had merely the dignity of crude ore. 
Therefore, the visitor has been placed first within the Govern- 
ment Building. If he has not the diagram of the site before 
him, he undoubtedly has it well in mind. Having left the 
Government Building, the plan of operations is to visit the exhibitions 
of the great Fair in the order in which their exteriors were viewed. 
Next, then, we enter the Main Building. 

MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS. 

A ramble through those portions of the Fair devoted to textile and 
metal manufactures and the leather interests discloses marvels of skill, 
taste and ingenuity, and the visitor is amazed at the novelties displayed. 
The looms of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 
various Southern States have contributed specimens of every fabric, 
from dazzling silk to dingy cotton, in a profusion that is absolutely bewil- 
dering to the eye. Vast areas of every style of carpet, possessing unique 
conception, graceful designs and singular combinations, are flanked by 
arrays of flannels, dyed and fancy, from the heaviest quality to the beau- 
tifully woven fine gauze, while beautiful silks appear in every shade and 
grade, from dress patterns to narrow ribbons, and dainty spools of varie- 
gated colors. 

A little farther, and we encounter masses of treasures from the loom 
in worsted and woolen goods. These consist of various styles of cloths, 
and dress goods, every yard of which is dear to woman's heart; shawls for 
the patrician and plebeian; carriage rugs, gorgeous and gaudy; chaste 
and elegant wraps for all seasons, and scores of articles, many of them 

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MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS. 603 

ornamental in character, most of them of general utility. Near by are 
marshalled for review stately piles of cambrics, lawns, ginghams, alpacas, 
calicos and white goods. One truth, as presented with force by this 
wonderful exhibition of cotton manufactures, is that the Southern States — 
especially those commencing with Georgia and within the great cotton 
belt lying along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to Texas — that the 
country supplying the raw material is getting to be, more and more, a 
manufacturer of it. 

An attractive feature of this section of the Fair is the large exhibit 
of cloth. The most fastidious taste will be gratified with the numerous 
specimens of pilot, beaver, melton and chinchillas for overcoats which 
appear in every grade, weight, and color, and are arranged in designs 
that in themselves are attractive from the happy and fanciful groupings. 

Wandering on we meet pyramids, castles and palaces of damasks, 
tablecloths, bedspreads, towellings, but hardly are our eyes reluctantly 
withdrawn when they are again captured by wondrous festoons and 
boudoirs of laces, embroideries, and edgings. The varieties of style in 
each display becomes a running commentary on the fickleness of 
fashion and the incessant labor and innumerable experiments which the 
manufacturer is constantly compelled to make in order to keep the 
market and meet the whims of the great public. 

Even as Andrew Jackson defended New Orleans by a rampart 
of cotton, so was a portion of Troy defended by walls of leather, and 
this useful article, notwithstanding Cromwell's sneer at its smell, is not 
to be sneezed at. Its importance as one of our principal branches of 
industry is evidenced by the large space occupied by the exhibit of its 
interests at the Fair. A tour through the various departments reveals 
the wonders of the leather business. This commodity seems as if it 
entered into everything. We meet it at every turn; there are beautiful 
panels designed for chamber decorations, furniture of which leather is 
an essential part, office desks enhanced in value by its presence, 
saddles, whips and harness of exquisite make and finish, writing cases,, 
albums, bibles, work-boxes, sachels, toilet articles, purses and scores of 
articles which owe their beauty, attractiveness and value to the wondrous 
skill in utilizing and working this valuable commodity of commerce. 

In that portion of the Fair exclusively devoted to leather we find 
immense rolls of it still redolent of the tanyard, and little skins as odorous 
as the heliotrope ; the one suitable for a ploughman's boots, the other 
destined to form a lady's dainty purse. On one side we see aisles of 
trunks, portmanteaus and valises in bewildering sizes and shapes, on the 



604 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

Other is displayed thousands of boots, shoes and slippers fresh from the 
famous shops of Lynn, Salem, Marblehead, Newburyport and other cities 
of fair New England 

The various forms into which iron, steel, copper, brass, gold and 
silver are worked by machinery, from powerful engines to watches (and 
even more delicate machanisms) would require a volume of illustrations 
to properly present them. In fact, the more delicate forms bring the 
articles close to the department of fine arts. And perhaps more fasci- 
nating even than the display of manufactures is the exhibit of the 
machinery which is turning them out — here is a rolling mill in operation, 
there a cotton factory, and near by a complete woolen manufactory, so 
that you may trace, in a hundred ways, the transformation of crude 
materials into finished products. The details of mechanical development, 
however, must be studied in the exhibitions of the patent office and those 
of Machinery Hall. 

FINE ARTS. 

The art department of the Fair attracts a great and constantly 
increasing crowd, as the days go by. Every country in Europe has 
yielded a portion of its illustrious art treasures, and every state in our 
Union has contributed its quota toward making this exhibit one of the 
greatest ever presented to public view. From snow-bound Russia to 
the sweltering banks of the Tagus, and from the British Isles to the 
Bosphorus, have been sent specimens of our contemporaneous artists, 
either in oils or water-colors or engravings. The works are of every 
age, size and subject — portraits, landscapes, marine views, scenes from 
social life, battles and gorgeous ceremonies. It seems as if the scourges 
of the world draw the largest crowd, and it is a noticeable fact that a 
Bacchanalian scene has as many admirers as has a Quaker group. 
There is a large exhibit of water color paintings which beyond a doubt 
sustains the high character this school deservedly bears, and of modern 
mezzotints there is a superb collection. 

The display of sculpture is greater than one realizes. If all the 
contributions were arranged together in one section one could appre- 
ciate the magnitude of the collection, but numerous and valuable speci- 
mens are disposed in various portions of the Fair as decorations, thereby 
adding much to the beauty and general aspect of the buildings. Some 
of the specimens of course we recognize as old friends, who have done 
duty at previous exhibitions, while others, though probably making their 
debut, from the familiarity of their school, wear an air of semi-veter- 



ARCH/EOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



6p5 



anism. This is especially applicable to the satyrs, nymphs, floras and 
Olympian denizens, so generally present, as well as cupid,who is always 
on hand, and looks as innocently roguish as if studying Heathen 
Mythology at a girl's school. 

Besides numbers of beautiful bronzes of exquisite design and finish, 
there are many specimens of rare and valuable mosaics, cameos, enamels 
and models in cork, ivory and wax, to which array we needs must yield 
unfeigned admiration; nor should we fail to examine the beautifully 
modelled terra-cotta figures and vases in clays of different shades of 
color, which show an artistic arrangement and skill of workmanship 
that elicit our pleasurable interest. 

ARCHEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY. 

There are no collections of a scientific or educational nature — devoid 
of practical value — which attract so much attention as those which fall 
within the limits of archaeology and ethnology, and which are also 
exhibited in the main building. Of course the material for the series has 
been drawn from all the countries of the world, but especial attention 
has been given to the display of the American riches in these 
departments. 

Although it was manifestly impossible to arrange the archaeological 
exhibits upon a strictly historical basis, still the general order of progress 
was, first to visit the weird collections, or models of mounds found in 
nearly all the States east of the Mississippi River, from Wisconsin to 
Florida, and in some of those of the Southwest. In form these represent 
birds, tigers, turtles, eagles, elephants, serpents, deer, panthers, buffaloes, 
and human beings. Wisconsin and Ohio are particularly favored in this 
regard. Not only are there scores of models of these evidences of pre- 
historic man, but transverse sections of them are shown to illustrate the 
strata of earth and the position of such articles dug from them, as carved 
stone pipes, arrow heads, jasper ornaments, and stones which are not 
known to exist in North America. 

An interesting group is that of the implements of chipped stone 
made by the ancient natives of the Mississippi Valley, who were evidently 
the most cultivated of the primitive populations of America, and were 
agriculturists, weavers, and skillful potters and workers in metal, yet used 
flint implements exactly similar to those of ruder tribes. 

The iron, bronze, and stone ages are all represented by innumerable 
articles, such as arrow heads, hatchets, chisels, spear heads, and stone 



6o6 THE world's fair. 

pestles, specimens of carved wood, shell, bone, pottery, spherical shaped 
pots, and water vessels. 

The collection from Peru is interesting chiefly as showing the 
mechanical and artistic skill attained by the unknown race of men who 
inhabited that portion of the American continent before the advent of 
the Incas. The idols and domestic utensils included in this collection 
are composed of different materials, some being pottery and others 
rudely carved out of stone. Most of these objects were exhumed from 
graves, whence they bring us the only knowledge we possess of the 
civilization and customs of a people concerning whose origin and 
history not even the trace of a tradition is left. 

The specimens of ancient Mexican pottery are quite numerous and 
the visitor will be surprised to note among the ornamental devices 
thereon the many Greek patterns, such as the fret or herring bone, 
annulets, checkered bands, meander or Walls of Troy, the scroll, ivy 
leaf and Maltese cross. Indeed, the collections from the old world and 
the new show that the handiwork of the red man, from Terra del Fuego to 
Baffin's Bay, is of similar character to that of prehistoric man in Europe 
and Asia, and they speak eloquently of a wide range of similar wants 
and habits leading to similar contrivances* 

A grander feature, however, of this archaeological department of the 
collection than the skillful arrangement of axes, spears, clubs, bows, 
vases and other implements and utensils, is the models and photographs 
of the vast pyramidal structures of Mexico, Central and South America, 
with the more gorgeous and finished temples of a later day, all 
showing the processes of architectural development in America. 

A collection which particularly touches the historic side of the 
Exposition is that sent from the Lesser Antilles, of the West Indies. 
It consisted of charms, stone collars supposed to have been worn by 
prisoners of war, picture writings upon rocks, settees made of native 
wood, and other articles used by the Indians with whom Columbus came 
in contact and some of which are described by writers of his time. 

The foreign contributions while not very numerous are undeniably 
unique and interesting. There are specimens of ancient writings on 
papyrus, vellum and parchment; several specimens of the forms of 
writing which distinguish the different ages of Greek manuscripts; 
examples of the three orders of Greek architecture; the different epochs 
of Greek ceramic art, as illustrated by beautiful vases; painted vases from 
old Greek cemeteries and ancient bronzes and casts, as well as an inter- 
esting collection from Pompeii. 



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AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITS. 



607 



In this section our people have shown a remarkable reverence for 
foreign antiquity that must surprise even themselves. An incessant 
stream of people urges its way to where the mummy — one of the 
Pharaohs. — thousands of years old — lies. The thing in itself is loathsome, 
of course. The charm to us new Americans is its history and its age — 
the fillip to our imagination in picturing all the years that have passed 
over its ancient form. 

AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITS. 




WILLIAM I. BUCHANAN, 

Chief of Agricultural Bureau. 

William Insco Buchanan, chief of the Department of Agriculture, was 
born near Covington, Ohio, Sept. 10, 1853. His early years were passed 
on a farm, but in 1882 he removed to Sioux City, Iowa, and entered 
mercantile life. Having been prominently identified with the various 
corn palaces of that city. Governor Boies, recognizing his executive 
abilities, appointed Mr. Buchanan commissioner from that State in 1890. 



6o8 THE world's fair. 

After having served as chairman of the Agricultural Committee of the 
National Committee he was appointed chief of the Bureau of Agricul- 
ture by Director General Davis, and to his efficiency, diligence, and 
indefatigable zeal is owing much of the success attained by that 
department. 

The exhibits under Mr. Buchanan's care include specimens of every 
cereal grown on our soil, wheat, oats, Indian corn, barley, rye, rice, 
buckwheat, etc. We next meet them in the form of flour, meal, grits, 
etc., and finally find them disguised as bread, cakes, biscuits, pastry, 
and starch. In these last forms it is useless to deny, they are tempt- 
ingly attractive. 

The group comprising sugars and syrups is inexpressibly sweet to 
linger around, for there our appetites are ravished by views of sugar, 
syrup, grape juice, sorghum, honey, jams, jellies, confectionery — all of 
them near, but alas, like the beautiful star — afar. 

The vegetable kingdom is well represented by potatoes, sweet 
potatoes, yams, beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, pumpkins, squashes, 
beans, peas and a dozen other racial relatives familiar to the tables of all 
good Americans , and close by we find dairy products displayed profusely — 
milk, cream, butter and cheese being aggravatingly tempting. 

Near by we gaze upon a handsome display of pure mineral waters, 
natural and artificial, flanked by an interesting exhibit of teas, coffees, 
spices, hops, and other vegetable substances. Among the latter class 
may be mentioned tobacco, in whose consumption America continues to 
lead all nations. 

This section also contains interesting displays of cotton, flax, wool, 
silk, fats, oils, soaps, candles, and a vast exhibit of hides, horns, ivory, 
bones, tortoise shell, hair, shells, glue and an immense quantity of the 
various seeds. A large area is devoted to farming tools, implements 
and machinery, all of which is interesting, judging from the continuous 
stream of people attracted thereto. 

This section is a fair in itself, for we see everything relating to the 
cultivation of the soil ; machines of all descriptions which have been 
devised to save labor, and increase facilities of tillage, and we have laid 
before us products from all over the world. 

THE LIVE STOCK EXHIBIT. 

On entering the Live Stock department the visitor is greeted by 
sounds as well as sights, for borne on the air come the shrill defiant 
neighs of a long line of stallions, the more plaintive whinnying of mares 



AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITS. 609 

alarmed for their foals, the bleating of sheep, the squeaks of the porkers, 
unkindly disturbed in their perpetual slumbering, and that speech of 
cattle which we call lowing. 

Cattle always attract a crowd of visitors, and so we find assembled 
around the pens breeders and butchers, farmers and merchants, poets 
and painters, lawyers and doctors, military men and men of leisure, 
ladies of wealth and fashion, servants and factory girls, and "kids" 
innumerable, all eagerly viewing the cattle of long pedigrees and high 
values, as well as the peasants of the race, only noted for vague ances- 
try and slight intrinsic merits. There is a large exhibit of bovine matter 
as well as of beef and dairy cattle, and many specimens of crosses with 
buffalos, etc, The classes include Short Horns, Herefords, Devons, 
Long Horns, Durham, Alderney, Sussex, Welsh and Scotch Horns. 
The favorites seem to be the short horns, which are noted for gentleness, 
and are fine in face, smooth of horn, small in bone, broad of back, 
velvety in coat, and placid in disposition. The Channel Island catde, 
commonly known as the Alderney, but the best of which come from 
Jersey and Guernsey, are in numerous force and of excellent quality, 
as well as of high value. The Sussex cattle are very like the Devons, 
but possess a larger frame, and when fatted are of heavier weights than 
the former breed, but the objectionable feature in cattle of this breed is 
that the cows yield their milk sparingly. They are, however, handsome 
animals, and very amusing and playful. They seem to know that they 
are on exhibition, and that the crowd is there to admire them. 

The exhibit of horses has proved one the most attractive features, 
and the number of animals presented for view far excels the most san- 
guine anticipations, and the arrangement of sheds, drainage arrange- 
ments, care of the animals and facilities for seeing are excellent. It 
would be an impossible undertaking to give a description of even the 
most noted animals which are here, but every class is represented — 
thoroughbreds, trotters, hunters, saddle horses, draft horses, coach 
horses, and educated trick animals. There is likewise a large number of 
ponies, and many mules and asses. 

The Canadian exhibit is remarkably fine, but is only Canadian in 
respect to ownership, as nearly all are indirect importations from England 
or Scotland, or the immediate progeny of imported stock. 

Among the curiosities is a beautiful Arabian horse; he is grayish 
white in color, very gracefully formed, and has an eye as gentle as a 
fawn. In striking contrast to this amiable son of the desert is a little 
wicked-lookino- black French stallioa of Percheron breed, who shakes 



6lO THE world's fair. 

his long- forelock out of his eyes, and flourishes a tail of astonishing size. 
Another contrast of a different sort is seen in the stalls where ponder- 
ous draught horses stand, and these huge animals come of a race that 
is as docile as it is strong. An important advantage gained by this 
exhibit is, it puts every breeder on his mettle to improve his breed of 
animals, and if this purpose is consummated it may be safely asserted that 
in this department the Fair is a perfect success. 

There is an excellent exhibit of sheep, including specimens of 
those famous breeds, Leicester and South Downs, Long Wool sheep 
and Mountain sheep. It is difficult to awaken compassion or enlist 
sympathy for the sorrows of a pig, yet the animal is urbane, friendly 
and affectionate, capable of learning tricks and executing wonders with 
cards, and if he is greedy it ought to be remembered that he is solicited 
to eat by every one in the crowd. The porcine element is strong in this 
section of the Fair, and next to the horses and cattle attracts the largest 
congregation, most of whom, however, view their pigships with an eye 
to the flavor of broiled ham or succulent pork steaks. 

The fact that the large sum of #150,000 has been given as cash 
prizes has been a great factor in the success of this department, and in 
the future will be attended with results beneficial to the farmer and 
breeder, as well as to the country at large. 

In addition to farming stock there is an exceedingly interesting 
display of dogs of all breeds, cats, ferrets, rabbits, poultry, pigeons, 
and various animals usually seen in zoological collections, which is to 
the usual sight-seer highly attractive. 

MACHINERY HALL. 

This certainly is a climax, and a grand one, to the mechanical 
exhibit of the Exposition. In the Patent Office the visitor has seen 
perfect litde models of all kinds of machines, has examined drawings 
of them, and has come to understand how they work. He comes to 
the manufacturers' building and he sees the products of a thousand 
machines— some of those which represent the most important classes in 
actual working order. But as he steps into Machinery Hall he is willing 
to proudly subscribe to the fling which some poets m ike at this age, 
viz: — that it is only an age of machinery; he is proud of the genius of 
man which can make great bars of steel and of iron as flexible as 
elastic, by putting in a joint here and an elbow there. We see flexi- 
bility, strength, grace and poetry in the movements of an engine. That 
criant which reaps and binds and loads the sheaves all at once, is as 



MACHINERY HALL. 6l I 

romantic an object as if it were flesh and blood. In fact, in the exhibi- 
tion of agricultural implements, from the simplest seeder to the most 
complex steam reaper, American inventors are seen to be pre-eminent. 

It is also noticeable that the South sends some beautiful cotton 
machinery, pointing to the vast development of the manufacture of cot- 
ton goods in that section. The Eastern States, however, are supreme 
in that department. There is also some ponderous flouring machinery 
not far off. 

It must be understood, therefore, that all machinery which is not 
especially exhibited to illustrate a particular process, as that of mining, 
or the application of a distinct motor power, as of electricity — that 
Machinery Hall takes it all in, and even infringes on other departments. 
Here, too, the growth of mechanics may be traced on a large scale. 
For instance we see not models of the oldest engines in existence and 
antique rails, but actual engines and sections of rails themselves. The 
Baltimore & Ohio road, which ran the first engine of American make 
over its line, is liberal in its donations. The smaller machines, also, 
even attract as much attention as the grander. They are well described 
by the word ingenious — pin machines, tack machines, etc. — and it is 
noticeable and flattering to observe how many of them are pure Ameri- 
can inventions. How much time has been saved and patience preserved 
by the conception and adoption of such inventions, no statistician would 
venture to say. 

A volume, however, could not describe the charm, the life and 
inspiration which hang around Machinery Hall. The hall itself is artis- 
tically decorated, although it would seem that the manner of arrange- 
ment of the wealth of material makes such forethought unnecessary. 
The fact and the exhibit merely go to show that although this may be 
an age of machinery, the artistic sense has not been crushed under its 
wheels. 

THE ELECTRICAL DISPLAY. 

It was in reference to some electrical experiment that Benjamin 
Franklin made his often quoted and most suggestive answer to the 
question, "what is the use of it?" by another question, "what is the use 
of a baby?" and nothing better illustrates the way in which electrical 
discoveries, like babies, have grown into usefulness by their various 
developments and applications, than the magnificent exhibit in the 
World's Fair. 



6l2 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

There are apparatus illustrating the phenomena and laws ot elec- 
tricity and magnetism and the wondrous as well as intelligent curiosity 
is gratified by a display of electricity developed by heat, and by friction, 
while close by are delicate yet scrupulously correct instruments for 
measunng the electric current thus engendered. Electric batteries without 
number and machines and appliances for producing electrical currents by 
mechanical power vie with each other in interest, and absorb the visitor's 
time until he is drawn away to view the various appliances used in trans- 
mission of messages. Passing onward we find a brilliant exhibit of 
lighting by electricity, comprising the arc and incandescent systems, the 
latter with its delicate carbor loop that a breath would forever destroy; 
many specimens also of the lamps, fixtures and appliances, instruments 
used in electro metallurgy and chemistry, and various apparatus for 
welding iron, steel and other metals, the telephone, phonograph, etc. 

But the crowd of visitors is greatest at that portion of the exhibit 
which might appropriately be called Electricity in the Household. The 
electric bell, fire alarm, burglar alarm, door opener, time detector, clock 
regulator, hotel annunciator, are shown in all their workings. General 
interest is also centered in such novelties as electric fans, shoe polishers, 
lawn mowers, pumps and various appliances for house decorating and 
heating, while the miniature railroad track running around a dining-room 
table and silently serving each guest is a never-ceasing source of 
wonder. 

One group in this exhibit attracts a large though somewhat solemn 
crowd — that which is devoted to a display of instruments used in 
electrical surgery. Those who remember the death of Kemmler view 
with awe appliances similar to those used at his execution, while others 
shrinkingly examine apparatus for diagnosing, taking up arteries, and 
cautery appliances, while some are amused at the phonoscope by 
which very slight sounds, such as breathing, pulsation, etc., may be 
detected and magnified — another strange instrument is the graphophone 
— used by teachers in the instruction of medical students. Coughs 
vary in sound in different diseases and by producing all the different 
coughs from the graphophone, students are taught to recognize the 
differences. In this group are shown electric probes invented for the 
finding of bullets in the body, electric thermometers used in detecting 
slight differences of temperature, and small electro-motors employed 
by surgeons to run small circular saws for cutting bone, and in very 
delicate operations about the bones of the face or nose. Dentists use 
this constandy, the litde saw being held like a pen in tlie fingers and 



MINING EXHIBITS. 



6'3 



revolving at a high rate of speed by the motor to which it is joined 
by wires. 

Turning from these instruments, devised for the aid of man, we 
are confronted with a large display of instruments used in land and 
sea warfare, among which are many specimens of searching lights, torpedo 
detectors, appliances for firing guns, logs for measuring the speed of a 
ship, appliances for the propulsion of boats, measuring the velocity of 
projectiles and various instruments for dealing death on a wholesale scale. 
There are many other features in this exhibit which cannot fail to attract 
the visitors' attention, but enough has been mentioned to show that 
electricity is one of the most powerful factors entering into our social 
conditions, and that the convenience and ease in the distribution of power 
afforded by it must produce changes in the social order which are even 
now hardly imagined, 

MINING EXHIBITS. 

The building west of the electrical exhibit, at the south end of the 
lagoon, protects the exhibits which illustrate the mineral wealth of the 
country. It contains diagrams and models of some of the most famous 
"bonanzas" in Colorado, Arizon, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and 
other mining states. Various sections of the earth are laid bare, so that 
one may see exactly where the gold, silver, copper and coal lie. The 
latest improvements in miner's lamps are shown. A ponderous ore mill, 
or crusher, is in operation. Several expert chemists and assayers are 
on the ground to demonstrate the processes by which ores may be 
extracted and analyzed. 

The specimens of ores and other minerals are also arranged in the 
most artistic forms — the organizers of this grand exhibit having also 
collected for the Fair the most gigantic masses of minerals which were 
ever brought together under one roof, gigantic blocks of coal being 
placed with striking contrast beside colossal mounds of salt. But the 
strength and attractiveness of the exhibit, as a whole, centers in its 
educational character. One could learn more by an hours' ramble 
through this building than by poring over books for a week. 

THE HORTICULTURAL EXHIBIT. 

The Horticultural Department exhibits fruits and products of the 
garden, as distinguished from the agricultural, which confines itself to 
products of the farm. In this section are ornamental trees and shrubs, 
with specimens of the various fruit trees and interesting illustrations of 



6i4 



THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



the methods of growing, transplanting, etc. The chief attraction, how- 
ever, is the tempting exhibits of the fruits grown in temperate and sub- 
tropical regions, such as apples, pears, quinces, peaches, nectarines, 
apricots, plums, grapes, cherries, melons and all species of berries. But 
the tropics are also faithfully represented by oranges, lemons, figs, dates, 
bananas, pine apples, olives and many other fruits — the entire collec- 
tion being most creditable and interesting, as is evidenced by the number 




TRANSPORTATION BUILDING. 

: the exhibit ot all transportation methods and appliat 
1x260 feet, covering nearly ten acres; cost, gi.oco.ooo. 



of visitors who linger around it. And the exhibits draw, not only 
because of the variety and lucious appearance of the fruits, but because 
of their unique arrangement. California has especially distinguished 
herself, and presents to the world graceful structures, representing 
churches or noted public buildings, which are made entirely of oranges, 
apricots, grapes and other fruit grown in her soil. 

The group devoted to Viticulture is a very large one, and here we see 
the many varieties of the vine and its cultivation shown not only by living 
examples of their growth, but also by cuttings, engravings ^ind photQ- 



woman's handiwork and head work. 615 

graphs which illustrate their planting, training, management and harvest- 
ing—in short, every process from the planting of the vine until its grape 
product is carefully bottled. The specimens of white wines, red wines, 
sherries, brandies, sparkling and still wines, form a creditable exhibit in 
themselves and emphatically mark the progress this industry has made 
in our own country. 

In that section assigned to Floriculture there is a lovely exhibit of 
nature's gems which is always surrounded with a crowd whose eyes are 
never satiated with the wonderful mass of flowers and foliage. We find 
there roses of all varieties — rhododendrons proud of their graceful beauty, 
azaleas, chrysanthemums, orchids, all varieties of cut flowers, floral 
designs, perennials, hardy and delicate, aquatic plants, sea-weeds and 
hundreds of flowers, bulbs and plants, all of which have a use and beauty 
distincdy their own. In the Fair grounds there are greenhouses and 
conservatories to which flow a constant stream of people. The conser- 
vatory of this exhibit contains a large array of the most beautiful and 
curious tropical plants and flowers. There are palms, orange and lemon 
trees with their golden fruit, the banana with its heavily laden branch, 
the guava, the India rubber tree, and hundreds of other growths, some 
beautiful for shape or color and some interesting for their uses or rarity, 
unknown in our hard northern climate. Here one seems to breathe the 
very air of the balmy South. There are also forcing rooms for the pro- 
pagation of young plants, where can be seen a magnificent exhibit of 
tree ferns gathered from many quarters of the earth. 

WOMAN'S HANDIWORK AND HEADWORK. 

The great Napoleon habitually sneered at woman and accounted her 
of little importance in the economy of nature; if he lived in these days 
he would be forced to admit that his judgment was erroneous, on this 
point at least. The very building is a remarkable proof of her genius. 
The visitor to the interior will find on every hand irresistible proofs of 
woman's ingenuity, taste, grace and design, and must necessarily 
acquiesce with the assertion of Aristotle, "Man is much, but woman is 
more." 

As Eve, with her thorn spike needle, set the fashion, needlework 
has become the chief vocation of the fair sex, and so the exhibit contains 
many beautiful specimens of skill and taste. These triumphs of needle- 
work are of every kind, and every fabric has been drawn into service, and 
every caprice of taste, fashion and combination is represented in the 







O 



womam's handiwork and headwork, 617 

numerous articles displayed. Tapestry work, embroidery, crochet 
work present many marvelous wonders, while the endless variety of 
stitches is simply astounding. There are not only samples of the 
heavy needle work of the middle ages, including the rich gold and 
silver vestments once worn by archbishops and kings, and made by 
the noble ladies of France and England, but also the wonderful laces 
and light fabrics of Italy, France and Belgium. Fresh landscapes and 
blooming gardens, noble stags and hounds, groups of sportsmen, and 
sprites and goddesses whose pink flesh shows soft and rosy through 
gauzy wings or drapery — all are here, done in silk, in worsted, in metallic 
threads. The Kensington (England) school of needle work makes an 
especially fine display. It is found, also, that American ladies — 
particlarly those of New York — have established several flourishing 
schools of this sort. 

And not only has art needle work brought forth such grand results, 
hut the practical housewife is enabled to get points on many articles of 
utility, such as dresses, wraps, cushions, quilts and caps. Bravely, too, 
do they bear witness to that beautiful description of industry in Sacred 
Writ so full of exquisite imagery: "She seeketh wool and flax, and 
worketh willingly with her hands. She layeth her hands to the spindle 
and her hands hold the distaff. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry ; 
her clothing is silk and purple." 

Other exhibits there are of varied interest; on one side we see 
beautiful paintings in oil, in water color and in chalk, which display talent 
of a high order. Not only have we pictures from the studio of Rosa 
Bonheur, but productions from the brushes of possible Rosas. 
Woman has also contributed a striking collection of statues, the most 
prominent pieces being those which have sprung from the genius and 
tireless energy of Harriet G. Hosmer, The exhibit of decorated china 
md other ware is charming and wonderful. Not only are the things 
themselves enticing, but their frame works — the rooms in which 
they are displayed, ornamented with painted satin, velvet and silk, 
leather work, ivory, carvings, etc. — are the products of her own hands. 
One of the most pleasing sights is a handsome library book-case 
with carvings by fair hands, filled with the intellectual works of woman- 
kind — books of Philosophy, Science, Art, Drama, Travels, Fiction and 
Poetry. 

In various portions of the building will be found evidences of 
woman's aptitude, as doctors, lawyers, evangelists, financiers, artists, 
journalists, farmers, photographers, teachers and book-keepers. Among 




I'UE COLUMBIAN lOWEK. 



THE COLUMBIAN TOWER. 619 

the Other interesting features of the building are a class from the Training 
School for nurses, a display from the Kindergarten and a model cooking 
class. 

THE WATER PALACE. 

A charming attraction in the Fair grounds is that beautiful and 
extraordinary novelty, the Water Palace, situated on the island near the 
boat house. Its exterior has been described, and a view of the fair 
grounds has been taken from the deck of one of Columbus' ships, 
perched upon its seeming globe of moving water. The interior of the 
building contains a large and varied historical exhibit, rendering it some- 
what like a museum, while a large space is devoted to an aquarium. 
At the base of the dome is a wide promenade of some 750 feet, and 
this is a favorite saunter for sight-seers and pleasure-seekers; and on 
board the models of Columbus' ships is an ever moving, happy 
crowd, who seek a change in their life's monotony by a fanciful voyage 
on an illusive sea. The effect so resembles the true voyage that no one 
would be surprised if a case of real sea-sickness took place. From the 
deck of the vessels, as noted, a beautiful view by day or by night is 
obtained, and many who are fearful of the ascent of the Columbian tower 
gladly seize this opportunity to gaze on a great fair and a great city. 

THE COLUMBIAN TOWER. 

The base of this wonderful structure, 400 feet square, is always 
thronged with an immense crowd, some slowly summoning courage to 
brave the dangers of high altitudes, while others admiringly view those 
who daringly make the venture. 

Embarking on one of the many elevators we speedily reach the 
first landing, which comprises three balconies, twenty-five feet apart, all 
covered by a beautiful dome of glass 100 feet high from the floor. Here 
we find a surging mass keenly bent on enjoying themselves, now that 
they have left earthly things behind. Their unwonted upwardness has 
given many of them an appetite and so the many places devoted to 
various refreshments are liberally patronized. Others, especially the 
fair sex, crowd the photograph gallery, and the young men are equally 
partial to the billiard halls. This landing, with all its rooms, promenades, 
and balconies, possesses an area sufficient to accommodate full 50,000 
people — and that too without the slightest crowding. 



620 THE world's FAIR. 

A second ascent of 200 feet places one 400 feet above the ground, 
and here are repeated the scenes of the first landing, though on a some- 
what smaller scale. This modest resting place has capacity for but 
25,000 people. Upward and onward being our motto, the stay at this 
landing is but brief. So once more embarking on the good ship 
"Elevator" the voyager is wafted at one stretch a height of 520 feet 
and reaches a point 920 feet above the lawns and flower beds of the 
Plaisance. Here are found hundreds of people, most of them evidently 
amazed at being infinitely nearer heaven than their wildest hopes ever 
anticipated. But heavenly matters trouble them not long; for the omni- 
present restaurants, ice-cream parlors, and soda-water fountains, are there 
to draw them out of themselves, while some sleek specimens of the 
masculine gender throng round the weighing machines, fearful lest their 
wonderful rise has caused a fall in flesh. 

Ascending a winding stairway of eighty feet the last point is reached, 
one thousand feet from the earth. Here the scene is such that, even at 
the risk of being considered a tiresome enthusiast, we must again place 
it briefly before those who cannot enjoy it in the reality. On one side 
lies a vast expanse of water, just curled by the breeze that sweeps 
deliciously over it; on the other a great city, in all its stately grandeur, 
stretches for miles along the plain, while far beyond we behold a panorama 
of rivers, like silver threads, lakes and streams shimmering in the sun- 
shine, forest lands, green meadows, country roads and country towns 
all eloquent of the happiness, progress and prosperity that is being 
displayed and glorified by the greatest Fair the world has ever seen. The 
glorious Fair and lake is at one's feet, the vast structures of commercial 
Chicago loom up toward the north, manufacturing Chicago rises in the 
south, resident Chicago envelops us on three sides, and suburban 
Chicago is in the dim distance. 

As a structure the Columbian Tower is a marvel of ingenuity 
and mechanical skill. It contains 8,000 tons of steel, galvanized iron 
and wire, is 1,100 feet from the top of flag pole to the ground, and is 
lighted throughout by electricity. Its ten elevators can accommodate 
80,000 people daily, and its cost of construction has been about three 
millions. of dollars — a vast sum expended on a vast undertaking. 



Sg. 



AMONG THE STATES. 




•AVING looked with some care through the exhibits that Uncle 
Sam has sent for our amusement and instruction, having 
glanced, all too hastily, 'tis true, at some few of the millions of 
interesting objects presented for inspection by our enterprising 
farmers, merchants, and manufacturers, let us now visit the 
attractive buildings we see scattered around so picturesquely, 
bearing the names of the various States. Some are large and preten- 
tious, some small and home like, but in all we find a welcome and much 
to interest, whether we are citizens of one state or another. 

In proportion to their size, population, wealth and resources all the 
states have nobly responded to the demands of the occasion, and the 
state exhibits form not only one of the most attractive features of the 
Fair, but one that quickens the pride of every American, and gives new 
stimulus to his enjoyment, in the fact that the state he hails from has so 
worthily honored her sons, herself and the nation. 

It was at first planned to have each state, as far as they chose, 
erect a special building for its own exhibit. On more mature delibera- 
tion it became evident that this would merely result in having a series of 
small fairs, of little interest in themselves, very similar to one another, 
and all of them detracting from and diminishing the exhibits in the main 
buildings. The plan was then adopted of having the state exhibits 
include only raw materials, such as minerals and cereals, and of having 
all manufactured articles properly classified and distributed in the dif- 
ferent departments according to their character 

As nearly all the states have made liberal appropriations for the 
purpose of the Exposition, some of them as high as a million dollars, it 
was desired that they should each have some special headquarters, where 
they could be located and their citizens could gather. This has resulted in 
the charming cluster of State Homes in the north end of Jackson Park, 
and in the Midway Plaisance. Among the most attractive features of 
the great Fair have been the numerous reunions of which these State 




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ILLINOIS. 623 

club-houses have been the scene. FamiHes, widely scattered through the 
Union — neighborhood friends, separated by the long lapse of years; 
army regiments, who last met on the field of batde, or at the final 
muster out, all these have met and rehearsed the old times, renewed the 
old friendships, and parted again with lighter hearts. 

Each state has naturally striven to make the most complete and 
favorable showing of its varied products, its natural advantages, its 
progress in education, science and the arts, and whatever tends to the 
enrichment and elevation of mankind. It is but natural that, in the brief 
survey we can take of these various exhibits, we should start at home. 

ILLINOIS AND HER NEIGHBORS. 

As Illinois was chosen for the home of the Fair, she took proper 
pride in having her building a fitting acknowledgment of the honor done 
her, and a true representative of her wealth, position, and progress. 
This building is 450 feet long, 160 feet wide, and is surmounted by a 
noble dome 72 feet in diameter, and rising to a height of 200 feet. Its 
cost was $400,000. In this grand structure is gathered, contrary to the 
prevailing rule, the state exhibit. It represents fully the agricultural 
resources of the commonwealth, its immense coal deposits, the rich 
veins of lead and zinc, the commerce of its great lake port — at which 
more vessels yearly enter and clear than at New York and Boston com- 
bined — and the net-work of railways spread over the state like a spider's 
web. The State Board ot Education has looked well after its special 
field, and shows that Ilhnois is prosperous, not alone in material, but 
intellectual things. 

The great states grouped around Illinois, while they have not 
striven to compete with her building, are no whit behind her in the 
extent and completeness of their displays. 

As representing the great corn belt, Iowa takes the palm with her 
Corn Palace. A more unique and beautiful structure it would be hard 
to imagine. When many another feature of the Columbian Exposition 
has faded from the memory, this building will stand out clear and dis- 
tinct to the mind's eye. As we look along its extensive front, and up to 
its numerous pinnacles and turrets, and the dome towering above 
all, we see nothing but corn, in its various forms. Within, as well as 
without, the only decoration is cereals, and none other is needed. Iowa 
has much else to show us, but we shall remember her for her corn — 
although not for her corn juice, this product being lacking. 

Wisconsin and Minnesota are running a race in the lumber arena. 



CALIFORNIA AND THE COAST. 



625 



Michigan having won her laurels in this field has stepped aside. 
These two neighborly States have not thought it necessary to erect 
any "Lumber Palace," in imitation of Iowa, as all the buildings on the 
grounds attest their resources in the line of wood. But if you want 
to know anything about logs, saw-mills, boards, shingle or lath, ask 
Wisconsin. Perhaps she can tell something about beer also. 

Michigan comes to the fore with her minerals and building stones, 
from the Lake Superior country— that great region so marvelously rich 
in all that lies beneath the soil. An immense mass of native copper, 
just as it was found in the mine, heads the exhibit most worthily. 

Ohio, rich in almost everything, and displaying all her riches, em- 
phasizes especially her petroleum industry. She digs for us an oil well, 
pumps, pipes and refines the crude product. Shows us how to make iron 
and glass with it, and burn it at our study table. 

CALIFORNIA AND THE COAST. 

No State has taken more interest in the Exposition than California. 
Few of the States have such a wide range of products and none have 
made a better display of them. The exhibition of fruits is something 
marvelous. Oranges, lemons, peaches, pears grapes, and all their 
relatives are here. They are built into pyramids, columns and domes, 
and ofttimes into some structure of historical or local interest. The dis- 
play of native woods is large and attractive, but in this line all sinks into 
insignificance beside the mammoth redwood tree, brought at infinite 
labor and expense from her distant mountain sides. This puny infant 
is but 312 feet high, 99 feet in circumference and 3000 years old. 
The only thing California failed to send is a good sample of her climate. 

Oregon and Washington have evidently been fishing on a large 
scale, from the glance we have of their salmon exhibit. We fear to 
mention what we see, lest we be accused of telling a fish story. Nor in 
furs, lumber and farm products are they behind others. 

Montana, Idaho and Colorado — need we mention gold and silver, 
copper, lead and iron after naming these States? Why, silver bricks so 
abound, that we would scarce demur if told that they were used for 
building purposes in the mountains. The rumble of the huge ore 
crushers is still in our ears. 

NEW ENGLAND AND THE MIDDLE STATES. 
No need to say, "Look in the departments of manufactures and 

40 



626 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

machinery for New England." Not that her farmers are not here, far 
from it, but who shall question the supremacy of Yankeedom with a 
machine, or who shall name the products. Locomotives and pins, fire 
arms and sewing machines, cotton cloth and ribbons, paper and watches, 
and all the machines to make them, of such is the list composed. But 
we should do fair New England a gross injustice did we omit to mention 
the educational displays made by all her States. Without New England 
this country would never have been what it is to-day, and where would 
New England be without her schools and colleges and churches. 

The Empire State has maintained her reputation and position in the 
liberality of her appropriation for the Fair, and in consequence her 
immense wealth and commanding place in the country are fully shown. 
Her great railway systems are spread before us. Her commerce by 
land and sea is depicted. Her varied manufactures, rich agricultural 
possessions and natural resources of forest, lake and mine are carefully 
set forth. A prominent position is deservedly given to the great 
engineering works within her borders, notably the Brooklyn Bridge, Erie 
Canal, Croton Aqueduct, and the new bridge over the Hudson. 

Pennsylvania has devoted herelf largely to coal and iron. It is hard 
to conceive a form in which iron appears that is not shown. We find it 
in the ore, the pig, the bar and the most highly finished product. She 
rolls out a rail for us, or a massive girder for a lofty building, and she 
makes the delicate watch spring. She reveals to us the workings of a 
coal mine, showing how the coal lies in the rocks, how it is mined, and 
transported to market, and finally leaves us in front of a huge block of 
coal nearly large enough to make a small cottage for one of the hardy 
men who mined it. 

THE SOUTH. 

The Sunny South, with the energy she is displaying in so many 
ways, has come to Chicago determined to let the world know of her 
advancement and material prosperity. Cotton has long been the king 
there, and is so still, and we expect to be thoroughly introduced to his 
majesty. We see it from the ball in the field through the various pro- 
cesses of picking, ginning, pressing, spinning, and weaving into cloth^ 
all of which our thrifty southern cousins are now doing for themselves. 
Besides the cotton, we see the fruits and alligators from Florida, rice from 
Carolina, tobacco from Virginia and Kentucky, iron from Alabama, and 
cattle from Texas. 



SOME FOREIGN EXHIBITS. 



IN GENERAL. 



.T is impossible to move a single step in the Fair without a thrill 
of exultation and an ever-growing sense of wonder, not only at 
the productions themselves, but at the proofs they afford of the 
boundless capacities for production of those who made them. 
On this text the World's Columbian Exposition is indeed a 
wondrous commentary. Glance over lists of the countries and 
people exhibiting — representative not only of all the great divisions of 
the globe, but of all the great families of men ; people who live among 
tropical heats and arctic frosts, and in all the great varieties of temperate 
climes between. There are black men, brown men, yellow men and 
white men. Hoary despotisms, legal and ecclesiastical; young republics 
alike vigorous and noisy; constitutional governments in every phase of 
development— all contribute. And the contributions they make are so 
vast, and so varied, that no one person, in the entire six months the 
Exposition is to be open, would be able to view them all and have 
any clear idea of what he had seen. Let us not, therefore, undertake 
the impossible; but as we have hastily viewed the more American 
parts of the great display, so let us wander at our pleasure, without 
any very definite plan, among our foreign friends and see what they 
have brought from their several homes for the world to view. 

We say foreign "friends" for have we not in this book already 
visited many of them at home, and become so veil acquainted with 
their customs and manner of living that now in our own country we can 
welcome them into the circle of friends? 

We shall find the great staple products of the factory, the soil and 
the mine displayed in great profusion by all the leading nations of the 
earth. Each is proud and happy to bring hither her articles of com- 
merce and open them for inspection in competition with all comers. 
But we are sight-seers and soon tire of endless piles of cotton and woolens, 

627 



628 THE world's FAIR. 

masses of iron, copper and zinc, and heaps of corn, wheat and potatoes. 
Let us assume that all these, and much more, are here displayed by the 
several nations, and leave them to the inspection of the student, the 
political economist and the merchant. We shall be content later on to 
read the conclusion they draw as the result of their study and com- 
parison. In the meantime let us search out, if we can, what is more 
distinctive in each national department, or what is different from that 
which daily surrounds us. 

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 

The material greatness of this country is amazing, it exceeds that 
of any empire, ancient or modern, and its government by settled law 
makes its moral greatness still grander. The Mother of Nations, its 
history, its laws, its literature, its battles, its commerce, its citizens, its 
arts and industries are themes of inexhaustible richness and afford an 
interest to every American far exceeding that of any other country. As 
England is the workshop of Europe, her exhibit comprises a full repre- 
sentation of all that art, science and manufacture can display. 

Porcelain of greatest beauty and value is well represented here 
from Chelsea, Bow, Derby and Worcester. The Chelsea, of a pure 
white color, is marked with a gold anchor; the Bow can be known by 
its blue anchor; the Derby with its crown in pink and violet, and the 
Royal Worcester with the cresent in blue. Costly dinner services are 
the chief exhibits, the color being the now fashionable oriental turquoise, 
contrasted pleasingly with chased gold. There are also several groups 
of the famous Wedgwood porcelain, and quite a large exhibit of porce- 
lain in imitation of the Dresden. 

The Lambeth potteries also furnish a collection, unique and attrac- 
tive. The products of Lambeth are better known as Doulton ware, 
and comprise articles for practical use as well as for ornament, and so 
there is a goodly show of tankards, vases, platters, cups, etc. These 
potteries also show tesselated floors, painted tiles, from the size of chim- 
ney pieces to little ornaments for the wall, and they seem capable of 
successfully baking anything from coarse terra-cotta to the most exquisite 
bit of painting, or the commonest glazed pie-plate. 

There are superb collections of plate and jewelry, around which 
there is a continual flutter, and they certainly are the highest quality of 
art workmanship. Emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, flash and 
sparkle most gloriously, and so do the eyes that behold them. A very 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



629 



interesting feature is that which exhibits a series of the stones used in 
jewelry, which gives the visitor an insight into the difficulties, as well as 
the materials, of the jeweler's art, and shows him how much practical 
art and knowledge is wanted to give effect and beauty of form to the 
stones which the lapidary furnishes. 

But to turn to more substantial things in hardware, the produc- 
tions of the great and important towns of Birmingham, Sheffield and 
Wolverhampton vie with each other, and there is a rich array of 
everything in that line from a brass bedstead or ornamental grate to door- 
bolts or key-rings. In cutlery, Sheffield, of course, excels, and a won- 
drous exhibit the fine old town makes, proudly conscious that she beats 
the world in that line of industry. As we have no need of a pocket- 
knife with twenty blades and a complete set of carpenter tools, we 
pass on. 

We find next an extensive variety of philosophical and scientific 
instruments and appliances for aiding the examination of life in its 
earliest germs; microscopes that make the point of a needle look like a 
fence post, and telescopes that bring the moon so near that we can talk 
to the old man. 

Another collection of England's instruments may be mentioned here, 
and that is the interesting exhibit of ordnance and small arms which she 
has sent us from her great arsenal at Woolwich. As these are halcyon 
days of peace and not of war, we will not comment on them. 

No matter how England got them, whether in Behring sea or not, it 
cannot be denied that her display of sealskin and other furs is remarka- 
bly fine — Ermine, Russian Sable, Grebe, Chinchilla and Astrakan and 
other varieties are tastefully diplayed and are an attractive and heart- 
breaking feature of the English section. 

But England's great source of internal wealth, her commerce and her 
pride, is her textile manufactures, and in this particular she is nobly 
represented at the Fair. There are carpets from Axminster, Kidder- 
minster, London and Durham, whose patterns and colors are triumphs of 
design; blankets, whose fleece and softness entices one to rest; table 
covers, damasks, rhoreens and goods for upholstery purposes from 
Halifax; flannels from Rochdale; from London a rich and varied display 
of dress and furniture silks and woolen cloths; silk velvets, cotton velvets, 
damasks, silk goods and cotton fabrics from Manchester. The Norwich 
firms are the largest contributors in light dress fabrics, and present 
them in every combination that silk, wool and cotton will permit. Silk 
ribbons from Coventry show what works of art English looms can 



ENGLANDS HOUSEHOLD. 



631 



achieve, and the linens and yarns of Leeds, and the diapers and hucka- 
backs of Barnesly commune in graceful piles together. 

Scotland, in addition to the large display of the usual textile 
nature is represented by specimens of that peculiar material and pattern 
known as the Highland tartan, also by her well-known tweed cloths, 
her Paisley shawls, wraps made of the undyed wool, and hand-knitted 
socks and stockings. There are also many Shetland shawls, the 
industry of the women of that remote locality, who perform marvels 
without the aid of any machinery beyond their nimble fingers. 

ENGLAND'S HOUSEHOLD. 

England's colonies are her pride, and well they may be, for like our- 
selves who once held that relation to her, so too her younger children 
are grown to be strong and lusty nations, who feel the old home getting 
too small for their needs. Their exhibits are grouped around the 
maternal display just as an aged tree is often surrounded by thriving 
shoots springing from the common root. 

British North America, our nearest and most friendly neighbor, 
pushes us hard for the palm in many things that we pride ourselves 
on as leaders of the world. The cereals from the Northwest make the 
hard worked and thrifty New England farmer still more tired over the 
scanty produce of his stony farm. Canada's magnificent display of 
lumber, salt and minerals awakens a renewed desire for reciprocity in the 
breasts of the hardy Western agriculturalist, and the enterprising man- 
ufacturer, who are both seeking the markets of the globe for their 
respective products. 

But in the line of furs, fur bearing animals and fish we stand aside 
in the presence of our Northern friends. Nova Scotia and British 
Columbia, Newfoundland and the icy North join hands to send their 
treasures. 

Our eyes light first on an enormous whale, stuffed to be sure, but 
alongside his massive head lie the fragments of the boat crushed in his 
vice like jaws before he surrendered; around him are the various whale 
products and implements for his capture. Near by are sharks of all 
kinds and sizes, from the troublesome dog-fish to the savage man- 
eater. For all of them human ingenuity has found some use, as is 
shown by the exhibits adjacent. The sword-fish, saw-fish, and 
frightful cuttle fish with his eight terrible arms, of which Victor Hugo 
wrote with such blood chilling vividness, all are here. Among the 
monsters of the deep we miss alone our old friend, the sea serpent. 



632 THE world's fair. 

Not even the prowess and craft of the sturdy Newfoundland fisherman 
could persuade him to attend the Exposition. Had P. T. Barnum lived 
even this lack would have been filled. 

Turning to the section of food fishes we no longer wonder that the 
ocean is salt, when we gaze on the vast piles of cod and mackerel, 
herrings and halibut. We look with interest on the festive lobster — the 
very one who stirred up so much trouble in Newfoundland between the 
French and the English — and wonder at his enormous claws, which are 
so large that he has to go at everything backwards. 

With the smell of the sea still in our nostrils we turn to an immense 
block of seeming ice on which stands a huge polar bear, rearing on her 
hind feet and defending with her sharp claws her helpless cub from the 
attacks of two Esquimaux, who covet the beautiful white skins for this 
very occasion. Near by an industrious beaver is hard at work on a tree 
trunk needed to complete his wonderful dam, than which no engineer in 
the country can build a better. Around this busy worker we see the 
mink, the otter and the sable, and the traps to which they fell victims. 
But we must hasten on to warmer climes, and only pause long enough to 
give a yearning look at the complete collection of game birds and their 
nests — wary denizens of the far North, but who, like ourselves, find 
pleasure in a Southern home for the winter months. The ducks, the 
geese and the cranes are so natural that one checks an involuntary motion 
as if to bring a gun to the shoulder. 

Gibraltar, the most famous, glorious, and valued of England's 
European dependencies, that rocky strip which guards the Mediterranean, 
sends the usual contribution to all great exhibitions — a pair of stuffed 
baboons, which faithfully represent the only native product of the 
great rocky promontory. These are contributed by the officers of the 
garrison, under permission of the governor and commander-in-chief 

A mighty nugget of virgin gold, around which the crowd con- 
stantly gathers, reminds us that Australia, that far-away island 
continent, is here to claim kinship with us, and show her wares. She 
has her great exhibits of wool and cereals, and minerals too, but the 
gold attracts while the wool does not, we foolish mortals forgetting 
that the glittering gold we covet comes quickest, in the long-run, by 
means of the very wool and iron we pass by in such indifference. 

Another group, yet larger than the one just left, draws us with an 
irresistible impulse. We see a small show-case, a handful of little 
whitey-brown stones, and a policeman guarding it all. What does it 
all mean? "Why, these are diamonds, in the rough, from the famous 



INDIA. 633 

Kimberly mines," says a bystander. Who would think that these dull 
pebbles can ever look like that blazing gem yonder, which seems to 
throw a mass of light on all around — now red, now blue, now green. 
When we come to the exhibits of Holland, that land of patient toil, we 
shall see what tireless study and months of labor were needed to bring 
out the hidden' beauties of yon peerless jewels. 

INDIA. 

Who has not heard of the marvelous wealth of India, the desire 
for which first led to the discovery of this fair land of ours, and spurred 
Columbus and his comrades to do the deeds which h«re we celebrate. 
We have pictured to ourselves piles of gold and silver, diamonds, pearls 
and rubies, silks and satins. These are all here and much besides. 
India to-day is wealthier than ever before, in all that makes a nation 
truly rich, but the outward dash and show is gone? 

Here we see brilliant shawls, appealing to the eye with their blaze 
of gold and silver; filmy gold muslins from Dacca; embroideries from 
Scinde; black and gold applique from Delhi, wraps bearing a resem- 
blance, from their silver trimmings, to scale armor; brass vessels too, 
commonly used by the native Hindoos and Mohammedans, some of them 
very elegant, and, as well as the pottery, forcibly reminding one of the 
forms found in ancient Egyptian and Etruscan remains. A little further 
on are rich praying carpets, chairs in ebony elaborately ornamented, 
sets of Indian toys, probably of the same kind that Indian children 
played with when British children were sold in the slave marts of Rome. 
But these are overshadov/ed by the gorgeous collections of jewelry, rich " 
embroideries and other articles of great value. Then, too, there are 
curious carvings in pith, and equally remarkable ones in various stones. 
Agate and jasper in slabs and fashioned into objects of adornment and 
utility, carvings also on ivory and ebony, and scores of articles of 
oriental life and luxury, alike interesting and picturesque, speak volumes 
of the immense wealth of this vast empire that kneels at England's feet. 

COFFEE WITH THE TURKS. 

All this kaleidoscope of changing color and form wearies us, and 
we gladly take refuge in a convenient cafe in the Turkish booth. Casting 
ourselves gratefully down on their comfortable divans we order coffee 
for the party. Presently a woman, clad in the loose robes and 
baggy trousers of the East, with her voluptuous beauty but half 



634 '^^^ world's fair. 

concealed behind her gauzy veil, appears bearing on a tray the dainty 
porcelain cups filled with the fragrant Mocha, fresh from Arabia's desert 
sands. 




A FAIR TURK. 



The draught brings rest and refreshment and gives a leisure moment 
to glance at the "Sick Man's" display. Not very sick after all is the 
thought that comes to the mind. Perfumes of all kinds fill the air, while 
round the walls are hung innumerable rugs, on which generations of 
pious Moslems have knelt at prayer, their faces turned ever towards the 
holy Mecca. As the Turk has always gone with Koran in one hand and 
sword in the other, so it is fitting to turn next to her famous Damascus 
blades, keen as a razor and curved like a bow, the hilts elaborately 
inlaid with gold, silver and mother of pearl, and studded with gems fit 



THE CZAR'S DOMINIONS 635 

for the Sultan Haroun-al-Raschid himself. Declining a pull at the 
Turkish pipes, with their water bowls and black tobacco, we saunter on. 

THE CZAR'S DOMINIONS. 

Russia has always been a friend of the United States. Greater ex- 
tremes in thought, manners, religion, and government than the two 
countries present it would be hard to find among civilized nations, and 
yet they are friends. For this reason the Russian exhibit is one of the 
most extensive of any foreign land. If we think the Czar's great empire 
produces nothing but snow, furs and Siberian exiles we learn our 
mistake on viewing the grand display of manufactured goods and pro- 
ducts of the soil and mines. The western farmer, as well as the decrepit 
Turk, has reason to fear the land of the Sclav. When wheat touches 
eighty cents he knows the Russian harvest is bountiful, and the peasant 
of the steppes is before him in the markets of Europe. We can pause 
here only long enough to glance into the wonderful Malachite room 
and feast our eyes on the beautiful green stone from the Siberian 
mines, which appears in forms and shapes too numerous to mention. 
If the Czar desires to honor a friendly prince, surely nothing can 
be more appropriate than the gift of one of these costly tables or mag- 
nificent vases and jars, that are worth a royal ransom. 

From Russia we hear of wars and rumors of wars, but surely nothing 
can be more peaceful than the charming Sclavic home we find here, 
nestled among the trees of this, to them, far away land. It rests us to 
turn from princes and potentates to its cosy comfort. 

THE "FATHERLAND." 

Germany is nothing if not warlike, and so it is fitting that the first 
thing to attract our attention is one of those huge guns from Herr 
Krupp's famous factory at Essen. The power of the monster appalls us 
and we do not wonder that Austria and France trembled at its roar. 
Let us hope that those days are gone forever, and that the future use of 
such things will be as curious antiquities in 1 xpositions like the present. 
But Germany can show other things than cannon, and had we not 
already feasted our eyes on diamonds and emeralds, we should linger 
long over the brilliant display from the noted museum at Dresden. A 
very wonderland is opened to the children in the array of toys from the 
Black Forest country. Dolls until you can't rest are here, some 
talking, some laughing, some crying; dogs large and dogs small; Noah's 



ITALY. 637 

Arks, with more animals in them than Noah ever saw; wagons and carts 
and donkeys; whistles and trumpets, etc., etc., until the head of old 
Santa Claus might fairly spin at the sight. 

Did not time press us so hard we would fain linger among some 
of the old books and wooden types from the printing press of Gutten- 
berg and his successors, or over the memorials here gathered of Martin 
Luther, Goethe, Schiller, Frederick the Great, Wagner and other 
worthies famous the world around. But we must on — on. We pass a 
Swiss Chalet where is exhibited a relief map of the Alps, showing in 
every detail its mountains and valleys, glaciers and water-falls. We 
are not even stopped by the wondrous wood carvings and the sweet 
strains of a music box, big enough to hold a folding bed. 

With a pang we pass the entrance to the Egyptian street, modeled 
after an ancient Nile temple. We long to view again the relics of 
Egypt's former greatness, thousands of years before Columbus and 
America were heard of, but having visited this child of the Nile in an 
earlier part of this book, we must now rest content with the remembrance. 
This we must do also of the reproduction of Pompeii, with its streets 
and houses standing just as they were, at the foot of Vesuvius, on the 
memorable morning of the day of the eruption. 

ITALY. 

We cannot treat Italy so however, for forgetting her irritation over 
the unfortunate New Orleans affair, she has appeared here in all her 
wealth of history and art. And what a history, and what art! A famous 
writer has said "See Rome and die." If we cannot see Rome here we 
can see, at least, a large share of it. We can trace its rise from the days 
of Romulus and Remus, with their wolf mother, to the time of the proud- 
est of the Caesars. We see it in the height of its glory and the misery 
of its fall. We see modern Rome too, and the modern Roman — the 
latter far less attractive than the former. 

From relics and Romans we turn to Venice and Naples, We feast 
our eyes, and hold our pocket books, while viewing the beautiful neck- 
laces, brooches, and ear-rings of dainty pink coral. No wonder the 
women crowd in here so constantly that a man has little show. 
Filigree jewelry ot the most delicate patterns, in gold and silver, and 
mosaics, of stone and glass, so finely executed that they seem like min- 
iature paintings of exquisite neatness, these and a thousand other things 
distract our attention, and claim each precedence over the others. We 
turn for relief to a spodess block of Carrara marble, just as it came 



LA BELLE FKAImCE. ' 639 

from the famous quarry. We can almost see a Venus, or an Apollo, 
hidden in its rugged outlines, ready to step forth at the bidding of some 
modern Michael Angelo. We need now only a gondola and the merry song 
of the gondolier to take us in very fact to Italy's sunny shores 
These we find but a few steps distant, on the lagoon, and for a rest we 
will spend a half hour on the water before visiting 

LA BELLE FRANCE. 

We find here a miniature exposition in itself. Hardly anything is 
lacking, and all is arranged with the exquisite taste for which the French 
are famous the world over. Amid so much we cannot see all, and 
we know not what to omit. Lyons is here with her silks of many 
colors; lace too from Chantilly, and point dAlencon, so fine and 
delicate in ornamentation that Eve might well be tempted to fall agam; 
shawls, ribbons and gloves in dazzling numbers and attractive 
appearance. 

A most fascinating study is the cultivation of the silk wot m. We 
see him here as he placidly feeds on his mulberry leaves, and as he care- 
fully builds his silken house around him. We watch with interest the 
unwinding of the yellow cocoon, the spinning of the threads and the 
weaving of the delicate fabrics for the market. 

Were we not strictly temperate in our principles the tempting dis- 
play of wines and brandies from France's fertile vineyards might prove 
too much for us. As it is we pass by on the other side and pause instead 
before the collection of Sevres ware — probably the finest china in the 
world. Each piece is worth a fortune, and after inquiring the price of 
one small vase we dared not question further fearing that either we had 
lost our senses or "Monsieur" had. 

CHINA AND JAPAN. 

In a quiet corner, in the north part of the Park, whither we have 
wandered, thinking perhaps to get out of the crowd a little, we suddenly 
come upon a strange scene, which seems hardly a part of the world we 
live in. A veritable Japanese village greets our eyes, as complete in all 
respects as if it were in the heart of Japan. We see the little bamboo 
houses all open to the street, which they closely crowd on either side, 
each one a miniature shop, where the workman busily plies his trade. 
Here we see a man patiently weaving the golden threads in and out 
of a silken screen, on which he is tracing some weird-looking bird. 



640 THE WORLD'S FAIR. 

He lies at full length on his work, and seems in a most uncomfortable 
position for doing anything. On the opposite side df the narrow 
street another is working on a large cloisonne vase, We stand in 
rapt attention as he skillfully bends the little brass strips and sets 
them on edge, tracing out his intricate pattern on the surface of the 
work, ready to be filled in with the beautiful colored enamels pre- 
paratory to baking. Others are making the strong, light fans, with 
their grotesque figures, one of which we unwittingly have in hand as 
we gaze. Still others are busy with umbrellas and dolls, while a little 
further on we pause to watch a group of jugglers, who seem able to 
change black to white before our eyes, or to take the very clothes 
from off" our backs without our knowing it. 

Not far away John Chinaman holds forth in similar state. Although 
we have no great love for his race we must make him a call, and 
stay long enough to learn how the tea he sends us is grown and 
cured, and how he prepares it for the table. We may even be per- 
suaded to taste a little from the dainty morsel of a porcelain cup in 
which it is offered. 

Kind reader, let us pause. We had intended to speak of Spain and 
her contribution of Columbus relics of such wide interest — ^of Africa and 
her vicious pigmies, whom Stanley borrowed and brought here for this 
great occasion — of South America and its ample riches. We planned to 
take you into these ancient Aztec and Indian abodes — to visit the Esqui- 
maux from Greenland — the cannibals from Feejee — to go with you 
through that famous street, of old Damascus, called ''Straight," so closely 
identified with the life of the apostle St. Paul. 

Yes, all these things we have omitted and a thousand and one more. 
But you must remember this is a World's Fair and all the world is here, 
to exhibit and to see. A week, a month will not suffice. Had we twice 
the time and thrice the space still a tithe could not be mentioned. 

You will come to the Fair yourself, kind friend, and then will realize 
the task we undertook in trying to even oudine for you a few of its 
prominent features. Until then, 

ADIEU. 



LfRdgTf 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

019 929 136 1 



■(\\ 



